Cheney's Dominic Bonilla successfully slides into third ahead of the throw to Medical Lake's Joe Sica for one of his six stolen bases in the Blackhawks' 6-3 nonleague baseball win March 18.
The Cheney high baseball team had another strong week, picking up a 6-3 win over Medical Lake, March 18 and a 5-2 win over Freeman, March 20.
In the game against Medical Lake, Harrison King put the Blackhawks on the scoreboard in the first inning after hitting a single to bring in Chance Gleave. In the second inning, catcher Dominic Bonilla hit a single to bring in Riley Jones, then scored after stealing home.
After Medical Lake scored two runs in the top of the fourth. Bonilla scored another run after stealing home - giving him six stolen bases for the day.
Bonilla, who is playing his fourth year at varsity, was recovering from shoulder surgery he had in the fall and missed the first two games.
"This is his first game back and we had him behind the plate for a little bit," head coach Mike Cagle said. "The goal is to have him back at full speed when we start league play."
In the bottom of the fifth, Jones hit a 2-RBI double to bring in Cheney's final two runs. The Cardinals scored one more run in the top of the seventh.
Kyle Jones pitched for four innings to get the win. Cameron Wiseman was on the mound for two and two-thirds innings and King closed the game.
"(Kyle) Jones threw well, he can be very effective," Cagle said. "He has a lot of potential. It was a good game, I thought all of our pitchers did well."
In the Freeman game, Cheney took an early lead in the second inning after Cade Vanwormer blasted the ball into center field for a 2-RBI triple, then scored on a throwing error.
The Blackhawks scored two more runs in the third after Jones hit a 2-RBI single. Freeman scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to prevent the shutout.
Connor Pratt got the win on the mound, throwing nine strikeouts while giving up one hit in five innings. Gleave relieved Pratt in the sixth and gave up four hits.
"Freeman are aggressive two-strike hitters, I wished we played them in our league," Cagle said. "They remind me of Pullman a little bit."
Cagle said while he would have liked to get the shutout against Freeman, he is proud of how his team handled themselves in tough situations.
Cheney is now 4-0 as they get ready to enter Great Northern League play. After their March 24 league game against Pullman, the Blackhawks travel to Clarkston March 28 to play the Bantams in their first doubleheader of the season.
"Pullman is a difficult team to get out and they make really good contact with the ball," Cagle said. "You have to play a good defense against them. With Clarkston, you'll never know what to expect. I'm excited for us to get into league play and see where we'll end up."
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)