Bengals blank Greyhounds for second win this season

Good pitching, slick defense, clutch hitting - just two games into its season, the Lewiston Bengals baseball team has it all.

Coming off a season-opening cross-valley win over Clarkston earlier in the week, the Bengals put forth another complete effort, topping Pullman 4-0 at Church Field on Thursday.

Led by Tyler Charlo's three hits and seven shutout innings from pitchers Aaron Kracke, Nate Quarry and Charlo, the Bengals notched their second win of the season much in the same way they claimed their first - with a crisp outing that could be mistaken for midseason form.

"Our pitching right now is outstanding," Charlo said. "We have four or five really good arms with really good stuff.

"Our defense is awesome also. We just got to keep hitting the ball."

Starting his first game of the season, Kracke perhaps showed just a tinge of early-season jitters, walking four and allowing two hits in the first three innings.

"Aaron (Kracke) was all around the plate," Lewiston coach Tom Grunenfelder said. "He wasn't missing by a ton."

Following a first inning that featured 25-plus pitches, Kracke quickly worked around a leadoff hit batter in the second with a nifty 1-6-3 double play and a laser from third baseman Kade Woods to get Pullman's Ryan Vannucci on a groundout.

Pullman's best scoring opportunity came in the third when a Tanner Therrien single and a pair of Kracke free passes loaded the bases with two out.

The threat, however, was snuffed out when Lewiston center fielder Bryce Wakefield corralled a routine pop fly off the bat of Stephen Mealey.

"(In the) early innings I thought we had some opportunities to score runs," Pullman coach Lance Lincoln said. "We had two outs with men in scoring position, but then we're taking a called third (strike)."

Lewiston (2-0) also came close to breaking the 0-0 deadlock in the third, but Woods was left stranded on third following a nice sliding catch by Pullman first baseman Matt Peterson on a pop up in foul territory and a cleanly fielded 6-3 putout.

Peterson started the game for the Hounds (0-1) and gave up only one hit, walked one and struck out three in two innings.

"I liked what I saw," Lincoln said. "I thought he threw well. He was in command. His velocity was pretty good for this time of year."

After a mostly clean inning from Quarry, who took over for Kracke in the fourth, the Bengals put their noses in front when Charlo largely manufactured the game's first run.

With one out, the senior hit a hot-shot grounder that was snapped up by Pullman shortstop Justin Cillay and thrown to Peterson at first.

Charlo was originally called out, but the umpires reversed their decision after both concluded that Peterson did not keep his foot in contact with the bag.

Two pitches later, Charlo was on third following a passed ball and a stolen base.

With the count heavily in his favor, Lewiston catcher Jake Ralstin hit a long fly ball to center that was more than enough to bring Charlo home.

"That whole run was nothing but hustle," Grunenfelder said.

Given just a marginal advantage, Quarry kept Pullman flailing, sitting down six of the final seven batters he faced.

Lewiston tacked on three more runs in the sixth on a two-out, two-strike RBI single from Charlo and a two-run double from Brett Martin that nearly carried to the wall in left-center.

Charlo took the hill in the seventh and preserved the shutout by notching his 10th and 11th strikeouts of the season.

"It's tough for us," Lincoln said of playing the first game of the season just two weeks removed from basketball season. "We don't have a field to practice on, so it's almost like a spring training-type of approach.

"Obviously we want to come down here and win a game, but at the same time we're trying to look at things, move kids around and see what we have. Overall, I thought we pitched it OK. Defensively, we showed some positive things, but I don't think our approach at the plate was particularly strong."

On the year, the Bengals' hurlers have allowed only one run and six hits in 14 innings. Defensively, Lewiston has been just as impressive, committing one error in that span.

"The thing I've liked so far is that we've played 14 innings and given up one run. I think defensively we're playing really well and for the most part, we're pitching well," Grunenfelder said. "Offensively, we're a little bit behind. I think this team has the potential to be a good offensive team, so I'm not worried about that.

"Usually, the hard part is pitching and playing defense. So as far as I'm concerned, the easy part is hitting and scoring runs and I think we'll be OK."

Lewiston gets some time off before playing host to Moscow in a doubleheader on Tuesday. Pullman will open Great Northern League play with a doubleheader at Clarkston on Tuesday.

Pullman 000 000 0-0 4 1

Lewiston 000 103 x-4 6 0

Matt Peterson, Stephen McAleer (3), Justin Cillay (5) and Tyler Nestegard. Aaron Kracke, Nate Quarry (4), Tyler Charlo (7) and Jake Ralstin.

Pullman hits - Peterson, Tanner Therrien, Ryan Vannucci, Zac Druffel.

Lewiston hits - Charlo 3, Dalton Ewing, Sawyer Meacham, Brett Martin (2B).

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Warzocha may be contacted at twarzocha@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2260. Follow him on Twitter @lmtribTroyW.