SUNNYSIDE -- Although they never came up with a clinching hit, the Asotin County Bucs rode the hot pitching of Neale Jentsch to a 3-0 victory over Prosser during Thursday's first round of the Washington senior Babe Ruth state tournament.
Asotin County will meet Casa Mia of Hoquiam today at 9 a.
m. This is a double-elimination, eight-team format.
Jentsch went the distance and limited Prosser to three hits. He retired the first nine batters of the game, and faced only five over the minimum.
Only one Prosser baserunner got as far as second base, and he was stranded there in the fifth.
"Neale pitched a great game," Bucs coach Kent Holland said. "(Prosser's) coach thought they actually hit the ball pretty well. They had a number of shots that went right to one of our outfielders."
But Asotin County squandered a number of chances, leaving 12 men stranded. The Bucs put up three single tallies, getting an RBI single from Chad Edwards in the first, a Joe Holland score on a fielder's choice in the third and a Jentsch run on an error in the fourth.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth, Asotin County had a chance to blow the game open. But Jentsch's line drive was fielded by Prosser's shortstop, who threw to first to catch the runner leading off.
"It could have easily been a triple play, if (the shortstop) would have thrown to second before he threw to first," Kent Holland said. "... That was a great chance, and we didn't get anything out of it."
Jentsch and Edwards paced Asotin County with two hits apiece.
The Bucs' opponent today, Casa Mia, defeated Puget Sound by a 7-2 count Thursday.
Prosser 000 000 0--0 3 0
Asotin County 101 100 x--3 8 1
Jayson Van Nostern, Scott Mack (5) and Shawn Campos. Neale Jentsch and Jason Sheppard.
Prosser hits -- Shawn Campos 2, Scott Mack.
Asotin County hits -- Joe Holland, Scott Spears, Chad Edwards 2, Neale Jentsch 2 (2B), Jason Sheppard, Cody Reese.
Twins 10-16, Cranbrook 0-4
CRANBROOK, British Columbia -- A doubleheader sweep of Cranbrook clinched the North Idaho League AA championship for the Lewis-Clark Twins.
A 10-run first inning and Chris Dowell's one-hitter prompted the Twins' 10-0 rout in the opener, which was stopped after five innings.
Tony Rhodes threw a five-hitter in the nightcap, and L-C piled up 17 hits in a 16-4 runaway.
The Twins, 26-13 overall, move to 9-1 in league. No other North Idaho team has less than five losses, and L-C closes out its regular season Sunday by playing host to Cranbrook in a doubleheader at Harris Field.
The Twins sent 14 batters to the plate in the first inning of the opener and came away with nine hits, including a two-run double by Josh Rogers.
In the second game, Jake Rogers and Trent Hollingsworth drove in three runs apiece while three other Twins had two RBI.
Dowell and Rhodes both struck out three and walked three.
FIRST GAME
Lewis-Clark Twins (10)00 00--10 12 0
Cranbrook 000 00-- 0 1 1
Chris Dowell and Rico Picone. Brandon Flint and Ryley Hunter.
Twins hits -- Jake Canner 2 (2B), Josh Rogers (2B), Jake Rogers 2, Kyle Greene 2 (3B), Joe Schmidt, Mike Dufour 3 (2-2B), Ryan Marsh.
Cranbrook hits -- Brandon Flint.
SECOND GAME
Lewis-Clark Twins 231 130 6--16 17 4
Cranbrook 220 000 0-- 4 5 4
Tony Rhodes and Josh Rogers. B.J. Heisler, Paul Carmen (5), Danny Rauch (7) and Ryley Hunter.
Twins hits -- Josh Rogers 2, Jake Rogers 3 (2-2B), Joe Schmidt 3 (2B), Ryan Marsh 2 (2B), Greg Frisbee, Brent Jacobs 3 (3B), Trent Hollingsworth 3 (2B).
Cranbrook hits -- Brandon Flint 2, Devon Howarth 2, Ryan Saunders.
Camas Prairie 12, Boise 7
TWIN FALLS -- Jonathan Brady pitched the first five innings of a four-hitter and drove in two runs as Camas Prairie stopped Boise 12-7 in the first round of the five-team Idaho Senior Babe Ruth state tournament.
Kelby Heartburg also had two RBI for the Zephyrs, who scored five runs in both the third and fifth innings.
Camas Prairie is back in action today at 3 p.m. PDT, playing the winner of Thursday's Ada County-Twin Falls game.
Camas Prairie 005 050 2--12 8 0
Boise 003 031 0-- 7 4 7
Brady, Baerlocher (6) and Heartburg. Boise battery NA.
Camas Prairie hits --Stockton, Nadiger, Arnzen, Baerlocher, Brady 2, Westhoff, Heartburg (2B).
Boise hits -- Davidson, Davies, Dimas 2.
Patriots 10, Taylor 8
PORTLAND -- With a six-run flurry in the top of the sixth and final inning, the Pullman Patriots pulled off a significant upset at the Rose City Baseball Classic, beating Taylor Baseball, a touted Connie Mack team from the Seattle area.
The Patriots are 3-0 in the tournament with one round-robin game remaining today. A win would guarantee them a spot in the championship game.
Pullman 110 026--10 9 0
Taylor 020 222-- 8 12 2
Rick Templeton, Jameson Maj (6) and Chris Roper. Tyler Blair, D.T. Nance (5), Mike Dedonato (5) and Trent Smith:
Pullman hits -- Greg Biagi, Patrick Cumming 2, Sam Hall, Jameson Maj 2 (2-2B), Kyle Hinrichs, Rick Templeton, Tim Sloot.
Taylor hits --Jared Simon 2, Tyler Mach, D.T. Nance 2, K.C. Herron. Derek Dupree 2, Trent Smith 2, Shane Hoey 2 (HR).
Moscow 12-0, Orofino 8-10
OROFINO -- Bases on balls proved pivotal in both games of a North Idaho A League doubleheader as Moscow won the opener 12-8 and Orofino took the nightcap 10-0.
The Blue Devils rang up 13 hits in the first game and supplemented that total with 10 walks. Ross Steele drove in three runs while Flip Kleffner had three hits and was one of three Moscow players with two RBI.
The Merchants benefited from 12 walks in the second game, three of which set the table for Nathan Haag's fourth-inning grand slam. Continued problems with pitching control led to Orofino's five-run sixth, which invoked the 10-run rule.
Andy Pottenger, providing what Orofino Jeff Wright called perhaps the Merchants' best pitching performance of the season, scattered six hits while striking out seven and walking none.
Orofino goes to 8-2 in league.
FIRST GAME
Moscow 203 211 3--12 13 2
Orofino 020 302 1-- 8 11 2
Andrew Sweeney, Kaleb Maxwell (5) and Jeff Webber. Stewart Rouse, Travis Beller (5) and Sean Diffin.
Moscow hits -- Michael Snodgrass, Andrew Sweeney, Tim Stuvland, Flip Kleffner 3 (2B), Ross Steele 2 (2B), Jesse Wimer 3, Corey Crowley-Hall, Kaleb Maxwell (2B).
Orofino hits -- Tyrel Childers 2, Nathan Haag, Stewart Rouse 2 (2B), Andy Pottenger, Sean Diffin, Tom Olive, Cody Albright 3 (2B).
SECOND GAME
Moscow 000 000-- 0 6 0
Orofino 010 405--10 7 0
Ross Steele, Kaleb Maxwell (4), Tim Stuvland (5) and Jeff Webber. Andy Pottenger and Sean Diffin.
Moscow hits -- Michael Snodgrass 2, Tim Stuvland, Andrew Sweeney (2B), Ross Steele, Corey Crowley-Hall.
Orofino hits -- Travis Beller (2B), Nathan 2 (2B, HR), Cody Albright, Brian Mosher, Tom Olive, Sean Diffin.