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 DAY 2 ACTION |
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Saturday, August 18
Idaho holds on to defeat a tough Washington team 9-7.
In perhaps the best game of the NWCART to date, the Bear Lake Bears of Idaho and the Richland Knights of Washington engaged in an epic struggle to see which team would remain undefeated. The Bears broke on top in the 2nd inning when Nathan Crane led off with a triple and Rob Smith drove him in with the next at bat. Crane had a big game at the plate going 3 for 4 and scoring three runs. Oh yea, and did I mention he can pitch? Crane went the whole nine innings for the Bears and though he struggled at the end he held on for the victory. In a game with tons of offensive fire power it all came down to the bottom of the 9th. The Knights scratched out two runs to draw within two and had the bases loaded with two outs, but Crane got Hayden Hilty to pop out to the second baseman and the threat was over. For the night, Richland recorded 12 hits and Bear Lake had 14. Pitcher Stinson Ott lasted eight innings for the Knights while teammate Trenton Sikes was 2 for 3 at the plate, scored two runs and Josh Rapacz, Quinn Zorich, and Eric Yardley were each 2 for 4 with their bats. For the Bears, in addition to Nathan Crane's performance, Trent Alleman and Keith Cook were 2 for 5, Cameron Crane was 2 for 3 and Bailey Thomas was 2 for 4.
Saturday, August 18
Utah takes down Montana to stay undefeated.
In a tight game that wasn't decided until the later innings, the Box Elder Bees backed up a strong pitching effort from Daniel Smith to take a 7-3 victory over the Mission Valley Mariners from Montana. Smith pitched 8 and 2/3rds innings giving up just 6 hits and 4 walks. He had an impressive 13 strike outs. Tyson Thompson had the hot bat for the Bees going 2 for 3 and scoring two runs. Mission Valley pitcher Eric Locke had a good outing going seven complete innings and striking out eleven batters, but he gave up eight walks and his team had some key errors that helped the Bees gain the advantage. Mariner left fielder Will Gordon was 2 for 4 with the bat and Cubby Pierre hit a homer in the 9th to lead their team offensively.
Saturday, August 18
Wyoming stays on top to defeat South Anchorage.
South held the Wheatland Lobos scoreless in the first, but things fell apart for the Wolverines with the Wyoming boys putting up six runs in the 2nd, four in the 3rd, one in the 4th and five more in the 5th. The sixteen runs were more than enough for the Lobos who claimed a 16-3 victory and will face Montana tomorrow in a "loser goes home" game that will start at high noon. Kelly Simonton was 3 for 4 against the Wolverines with a double, stolen base and one run scored. Jon Daly was 2 for 3 with a triple, double, stolen base and two runs scored. Lobo starting pitcher Dusty Anderson picked up the win going five innings, surrendering five hits, five walks and recording three strike outs. The Wolverines were led by Cal McKim who went 2 for 3 at the plate and Jake Ziemer who was 2 for 2.
Saturday, August 18
Oregon tops Fairbanks 21-3.
The Ashland Oregon Pilots put up four runs in the 2nd and four more in the 4th to jump to an early lead over the Fairbanks 49’ers. Just when it seemed that the Alaska team couldn’t muster any offense, the bats came alive in the top of the 5th and three runs raced across home plate. Cody Johnson had the biggest hit of the game for Fairbanks when he slammed one off the wall in left centerfield for a stand-up double that scored two runs and chased Pilot starter Tyler Killeen off the mound. Not to be outdone, Oregon responded in the bottom of the 5th by putting up nine runs that included a triple from Ian Kendall that one-hopped to the deep centerfield wall and scored two runs. Then in the 6th Sam Gaviglio had the hit of the game when he smashed a 3-run homer over the left field wall that sailed all the way into the end zone of the adjoining Anchorage Football Stadium. For the game, Kendall was 4 for 4 at the plate and scored two runs. Gaviglio was 3 for 5 with a single and triple to go with the homer, just a double short of hitting for the cycle. Oregon will next face the loser of today’s game between Washington and Idaho.
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