By JOHN McCALLUM
Editor
Cheney's second straight appearance in the 2A state tournament may not have ended the way the Blackhawks had hoped, but it might serve as a program-builder nonetheless.
Cheney employed its game-in-motion offensive philosophy to perfection for an 11-2 win in the opener last Saturday against East Valley-Yakima at Davis High School in Yakima, but fell a game short of the Final Four double-elimination round with a 12-4 loss to Selah in the quarterfinal.
The Blackhawks scored four runs in the bottom of the second against the Red Devils via a walk, two hit batters, a wild pitch, a balk, three stolen bases and a 2RBI squeeze bunt by Calvin Elam. East Valley-Yakima (14-11) cut that lead in half on Cody Cruse's 2RBI double in the fourth, and Cheney answered with three in the bottom of the frame, getting big hits on Cameron Lowe's lead off double and a Dalton Harding RBI single.
Cheney essentially put the game out of reach with four more runs in the sixth on an RBI triple by Harding, RBI doubles from Elam and Thomas Townsend and an RBI single from Sean Scholer. Matt Walker got the win on the mound, with Harding going 3 for 4 at the plate.
“They just never let up,” Blackhawks' manger Randy Elam said of his team. “They put a lot of pressure on them and forced them to make mistakes. It was cool to get into the quarterfinals.”
But waiting there for them was Selah (21-3), a program that was looking for its eighth Final Four appearance since 1998. Cheney took a 2-0 lead in the second on a pair of walks and an RBI single by Elam and an RBI double by Townsend.
Selah pulled to within one with a run in the bottom of the inning and took a 3-2 lead in the third with solo home runs by Alex Fickes and Stephan Schmidt.
It was a prelude of what was to come. Cheney tied the game in the fourth with a lead off triple by Kadeem Smalls, who scored on Townsend's two-out triple.
But with 19 home runs in their 24 games, and a strong upper level breeze blowing out to center, it wasn't long before the Vikings broke things open. A pair of Cheney errors set the table for Matt Snider, who cleared the bases with a 3-run blast in the fifth. In the sixth, Allen Noble led off with another solo home run, a shot that keyed a six-run inning that sealed Cheney's fate and sent the Vikings on to face R.A. Long in the semifinals next weekend.
Lowe took the loss on the mound, with Scholer coming on in the fourth and Alex Stevens in the sixth for the Blackhawks. Offensively, Townsend was 4 for 4 with 2RBI, with Smalls going 1 for 1 and an RBI.
“We just never could string hits together,” Elam said.
Cheney ends its season with an 18-4 record. It was the final high school game for 12 seniors: Elam, Harding, Max Harris, Ryan Pederson, Brandon Powers, Scholer, Smalls, Stevens, Mike Torkelson, Townsend, Walker and Poyner Westerfield.
All 12 played parts in the Blackhawks winning two straight Great Northern League titles, the 2010 District 7 title and a second straight trip to the state tournament.
“We've improved each year,” Elam said. “Getting into the final eight was impressive. We just came up a little short. I'm very, very proud of these guys.”
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)