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WCL Walla Walla Sweets

Sweets Swept in Bend

June 30, 2014 - West Coast League (WCL)
Walla Walla Sweets News Release


BEND, Or. - With an early rally, the Walla Walla Sweets took a commanding lead over the Bend Elks in their quest to avoid a series sweep.

But once again, the pitching succumbed to the power of the Elks' bats, and the home team pulled off the come-from-behind victory at Genna Stadium Sunday, 13-10.

The Sweets got off to a promising start when Jarod Gonzales walked to lead off the game, and Sean Bouchard and Kevin Morgan both singled to load the bases. Renae Martinez and Cooper Hummel both singled to score a run each, Mike Paulson walked to force home a run, and Ryan Littlefield singled home a pair, giving Walla Walla and starting pitcher Chris Kerwood an early 5-0 lead.

Leadoff man Johnathan Brooks reached second base on an error in the bottom half, moving to third and scoring on two groundouts, but that was all the Elks could manage in the first two innings against Kerwood.

Bouchard led off the top of the second with another base hit and moved to second when Morgan walked. A groundout moved the runners up, and Hummel singled Bouchard and Morgan home to extend the Sweets' lead to six runs.

Though failing to score in the second, the Elks got two runs off Kerwood in the third on a hit batsman, a walk and two singles. Grant Newton, who took the walk, would end the night with a total of four bases on balls, scoring three of the Elks' thirteen runs.

In the fifth, the Sweets loaded the bases on three consecutive singles with none out by Kyle Nixon, Paulson and Littlefield. John Skrbec hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Nixon, and Gonzales and Bouchard singled to score two more, giving the Sweets their biggest lead of the night, 10-3.

But the Elks brandished their bats again in the bottom half. Kerwood walked Newton and allowed a single to Brock Carpenter, before getting two quick outs on a popout and a flyout. Billy King singled Newton home, and pinch hitter Sam Finfer walked to load the bases. Jo Carrol singled Carpenter home to chase Kerwood from the game, and Josh Cushing welcomed new pitcher Matt Walker to the game by hitting a hard grounder to third, where Gonzales misplayed the ball to give the Elks two runs.

Suddenly leading by just three runs, the Sweets could not add to their lead in the top of the sixth, and in fact would not score again in the game, but the Elks came to within one run against Walker. Three walks and a single forced the right-hander from the game with a narrow one-run lead for the Sweets. Dillon Dove entered and saw Billy King lay down a sacrifice bunt to move the tying and go-ahead runs to third and second, but Dove was able to escape the jam after inducing two popouts.

However, the Sweets' lefty would not have similar luck in the seventh. He hit the first batter, Josh Cushing, and got Jonathan Brooks to ground into a fielder's choice. But when pinch-runner Justin Erlandson pinch-ran for Brooks at first, he advanced to second on another walk to Newton and scored on a single to left by Carpenter. Manager J.C. Biagi then removed Dove from the game and brought in Jay Flaa, who stranded the go-ahead run on first by striking out Trevor Allen and getting Nick Osuna to fly out.

After the Sweets once again failed to score in the top of the eighth, the game spiraled out of control. Flaa allowed a leadoff double to King, uncorked a wild pitch en route to walking pinch-hitter Jake Peeveyhouse, and then let Nick Lopez to lift a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring the go-ahead run. The Elks then extended their lead to 13-10 on singles by Erlandson and Newton, and Kevin Sheets retired the side in order in the ninth, earning the save, while Flaa took the loss.

Bend had the Sweets' pitching almost entirely figured out for the third straight night, collecting their thirteen runs on eleven hits and nine walks.

"I thought we did some good things offensively throughout the series, but (we) really struggled on the mound," said Sweets manager J.C. Biagi. "We need to continue working hard to correct our issues on the hill."

Those good things on the offensive side came in the form of eighteen runs in the series for the Sweets, but the tally was not enough against a high-scoring Bend lineup that piled up forty-seven runs of its own.

The Sweets will travel to Yakima on Monday to play the first of three games against the Yakima Valley Pippins, beginning at 7:05 PM.

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