Blue Devils bank on West Plains players to earn way back to state tournament
Five Blackhawks, one Cardinal will play key roles for defending Senior Legion champs
By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter
The Spokane Blue Devils are likely to bank their fortunes for a return trip to the state American Legion tournament � and hopefully beyond � on a half dozen players who honed their skills on the baseball diamonds of the West Plains.
Those �beyonds� include spots in the ALB Northwest Regionals that take place in the Devils� backyard at Gonzaga University, Aug. 5-9 and of course the Legion World Series, Aug. 13-17 at Avista Stadium in Spokane.
And Blue Devils� coach Tony Byrne has full expectations that his team will, if nothing else, make a solid run in that direction.
In 2009 �We went two and out at state, but one of our goals was just to get there,� Byrne said. �Obviously this year with nine guys coming back, with some of the success we had last year, I expect a little more.�
�We�ve got a shot to be really good; it�s the most talented team we�ve had,� Byrne explained. There�s more than just ability that play into expected success. �As much as it was talent, they were really good together.� Team chemistry �was off the charts,� Byrne said.
Byrne sees a lot of that all-important chemistry returning with Blackhawks like Drew Ableman, Sean Scholer, Matt Walker, Dalton Harding and Tom Townsend, as well as Medical Lake�s Ryan Wagner on the roster.
�From what I�ve seen so far they are outstanding kids. I don�t have to worry about effort,� Byrne said. �I don�t have to worry about any of those things.�
�Part of that is coming from good programs,� Byrne said. �Part of that is that they�ve been well raised and they�re respectful and those kind of things. Those things matter.�
The Blue Devils finished on top of the 2009 AAA standings with a 12-4 record, one game ahead of the Northstars.
Third-year Blue Devil Ableman had an opportunity to make Gonzaga�s team as a walk-on and it didn�t work out, Byrne said. �He had a fall tryout where he basically went through their whole fall practice. Their center fielder is an All-American,� Byrne added, so there was little chance of him playing.
Ableman�s speed will be a key to his successful return, and that is what Byrne calls �his best skill. He�ll play a good center field, he�ll bunt and steal bases,� Byrne said.
Sean Sholer will play shortstop and see duty as a reliever. �I haven�t seen him play a whole lot but his name was always in the paper. At tryouts he impressed the heck out of me,� Byrne said. �Coach (Randy) Elam has done such a good job that Cheney�s kinda leading the charge in providing us players.�
�Dalton Harding, the same thing as Sean, I don�t know that much about him,� Byrne confessed. �He comes highly recommended. He was great in tryouts.�
A slow start in 2009 transformed into a great finish for Matt Walker, Byrne said. �At the end he made a huge jump in the last two weeks of the year. He�s going to kind of be our workhorse. I�m counting on him to be our ace.�
Pitching is the one concern Byrne has with the team. �If he (Walker) works out like I think he can, and a couple of these other guys work out, then we should be OK.�
�Tommy Townsend, he�s just a good player,� Byrne said. �He�s gotten stronger. We gave out uniforms the other day and the uniform he was wearing last year was too small.� That�s a huge difference according to Byrne, who noted Townsend hit a couple of home runs in school ball. �He wouldn�t have hit those last summer,� Byrne said.
Wagner was ML�s utility man�s utility man. �That�s one of the reasons he made the club because of his ability to play a lot of positions. Ryan made the team and he�s been real good so far,� Byrne said. �He had a thirst for knowledge and he�s competitive.�
One more Cardinal has a roster spot but will not play, Byrne said. That of course is the injured Nick Pacheco who just had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder.
�It�s a big loss, just the things he brings to the table, getting hits and playing defense. He brings a different energy level and makes everyone around him better,� Byrne said. �Coaches may overuse that, but he�s really that guy.�
Weather and post-season, which involved both Cheney and Lakeside � have inhibited the Blue Devils from practicing much. So Byrne is a bit behind in assessing his talent.
�We�re just kind of going into it and play and see what happens,� Byrne said of opening in a Memorial Day weekend tournament. The Blue Devils went 1-2 with a rainout this past Monday and have launched league play.
�There�s a bunch of kids I haven�t seen enough play to know what to do with them,� he said. �I�m going to kind of trust we made the right decisions, let �em go and just play and see what happens.�
�We�re going at it for the first time expecting to win the league,� Byrne said. �Now we have to get those expectations in the players� minds as well.�
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
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