The Cheney High baseball team’s 2016 season came to an end after a 17-2 loss to No. 5 seed East Valley in the second round of the Great Northern League playoffs, May 9. Two days before, the No. 4 Blackhawks defeated No. 3 Pullman, 7-3 to eliminate the Greyhounds from the postseason.
Cheney ended its regular season with losses to West Valley (7-5), May 3 and Pullman (7-6), May 5, Senior Day.
East Valley scored quick and early, leading 12-0 after the fourth inning. After Cheney scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth, the Knights answered with five runs in the fifth to force the 10-run mercy rule.
“If you’re in baseball long enough, you’re going to get beat like that, whether you’re in the Major League, college, high school or Little League,” head coach Mike Cagle said.
Cade VanWormer had two hits while Harrison King, Logan Pratt and Andrew Witt added one each. Starter Dylan Arthur took the loss on the mound to finish the season at 1-3. He shared pitching duties with Ty Graham, Cameron Wiseman, Jacob Lauber and Jackson Shaw.
In the West Valley game, Cheney was down 5-0 when they scored two runs in the third inning. After the Eagles scored two runs in the seventh, Cheney put up three more runs in the bottom of the inning, including Harrison King’s two-RBI double.
The Blackhawks had 10 hits, including King and Chance Gleave having two each.
Arthur took the loss on the mound with Graham taking over in the fourth inning.
On Senior Day, Pullman took an early two-run lead after the first and boosted it with one run in the third and three in the fourth. Down 6-4, Cheney closed the gap with two runs in the fifth. Spencer Walker’s sacrifice fly scored Payton Ultzman to clinch the win for Pullman.
Offensive highlights for Cheney included King’s double and Cameron Wiseman’s RBI single.
Matthew Riggs (0-3) got the loss on the mound after he relieved Wiseman in the fourth.
In the playoff game against the Greyhounds, Cheney took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning and added one more in the third. The Blackhawks secured the win after King belted a three-run home run in the fifth.
King had five RBIs on the day. Trey Martin and VanWormer had two hits and Jones had a triple.
Gleave (3-1) got the win after pitching a complete game.
“Chance threw lights out and changing speeds throughout the day,” Cagle said. “Harrison did great at bat. He put a lot of time in the cage this year.”
Cheney finished the year at 9-13 overall. The team loses 10 seniors to graduation: Graham, Gleave, King, Martin, Pratt, Wiseman, Austin Bosworth, Brayden Butikofer and David Winters.
Cagle said he’ll miss this year’s group of seniors and poses a challenge for next year’s returning players.
“Baseball is a tough game and you’ve got to make sure you’re ready to play,” Cagle said. “You’ve got to learn from your mistakes and do things, like throwing, hitting and running, on your own time to get better.”
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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