ML Baseball crew locks-in playoff spot

Medical Lake at Riverside

The Card baseball crew traveled to Nine Mile Falls on Friday, April 26 for an offensive onslaught by both teams that by the end of the day found Medical Lake victorious over the Riverside Rams (2-8, 5-9). But what looked like a sure victory for the Cards for most of the game became a narrow win in the end.

“We went into that game looking for a playoff spot,” head coach Austin Sharp said. “If we’d lost there’s a chance we might not make the playoffs.”

And the Cards pulled it out. Medical Lake enjoyed an early, seven run lead by the end of the third inning. At the top of the sixth they brought in two more runs to make it an 11-2 game, only to have their defense implode, allowing the Hawks to score eight runs in the bottom of the inning to make it a one-run game.

But the Card defense closed the inning and held the home team off through the seventh to win by an 11-10 whisker.

Bennett Soliday started the game on the mound, allowing only two runs until the sixth inning, when he was pulled after allowing five runs with no outs. Soliday allowed five earned runs, three walks, and had two strikeouts.

Jack Meade got the win, and although he allowed three runs on a single hit, he managed to stanch the hemorrhaging at the plate and closed the seventh without any runs to squeak by for the win.

Both Mason Hammond and Trevor Hurt-Moran stole five bases each; Joe Oliver got away with two. Sam Gollehon was 4 for 4 at the plate; Mason Hammond 2 for 4. Both knocked in three RBIs each.

“We hit every ball they threw at us, and ran the bases great,” Austin said.

Riverside depleted it’s bullpen in their attempt to extinguish the Card’s batting, burning through six different pitchers in game. Oliver made it to home plate three times on as many walks.

“That’s the first playoff spot we’ve locked up in two years,” Sharp said, noting they secured a fourth seed in the post-season. He called it a “big deal.”

“The kids have been working for that goal the whole year,” he said.

Medical Lake vs. Colville

It was a competitive, one-run game with visiting top-of-the-league Colville (10-2, 11-2) with a one-run lead on Saturday until the top of the third inning when the Indians bats caught fire and knocked-in eight runs.

And that was the game for the Cardinals.

“We had to piece some stuff together,” Sharp said, commenting on injuries among his starters.

While the Cards managed two more runs in the bottom of the fourth, Colville answered back with at least a single run in each consecutive inning, closing the game with a three-run sixth that sealed the win 19-7 win.

The Cards had to dig into the bullpen to survive. Haas started on the hill, allowing eight runs in three innings before being replaced by Hurt-Moran, who also gave up eight runs. Brent Keith came in on relief and gave up a three earned runs and walked three. Closer Jacob Edison also allowed a single run to take credit for the painful loss.

Sharp noted that he brought in some pitchers who had yet to pitch this season, resulting in hit batters, walks and lack of a strike zone.

“They just struggled throwing strikes,” he said.

He said there was nothing he could be critical about in their performance, all things considered.

Gollehon went 2 for 3, scoring three runs, including a double, and assisted in scoring with RBIs. Hammond scored three runs, and Keith went 3 for 4, hit a triple and three hits — all of them RBIs — on four at-bats.

“What I wanted to get out of that game was offensive production,” Sharp said. “And we got that.”

Looking ahead to post-season Sharp said he expected to play Colville, and wanted to be able to hit off their pitchers.

As of press time, the Cardinal baseball crew were scheduled to face Deer Park at home on Tuesday to wrap-up what has been an all-around irregular, regular season. The post season starts on Saturday in loser-out play against a team yet to be determined.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].