The American Legion AAA Cannon Seniors added three more wins to their record in the past weeks play.
Cannons vs. Spokane Bandits
They started with two league wins in a doubleheader play on Monday, July 1 against the Spokane Bandits in Medical Lake.
The Cannons took an early 4-2 lead in game one going into the third inning. Scoreless in the third and fourth, the Bandits brought in a runner at the top of the fifth to make it 4-3, but the Cannons came back in the bottom of the sixth, bringing in seven runs. The Bandits responded with four runs in the top of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to top the Cannons who notched an 11-7 victory.
Nick Swenson got the win, pitching six solid innings, striking out 10 with only one earned run.
Offensively, Kyle Peabody hit a single and a double with two RBIs, scoring twice in four at bats. Trevor Hurt-Moran had a triple and an RBI.
The Cannons maintained their momentum in game two in a “back and forth game,” according to head coach Austin Sharp, even as they lost Mason Hammond to injury. Both teams hit hard, but the Cannon bats were hotter in a 20-12 whopping with the Cannon’s getting the read on the Bandit’s pitching — despite eight strike outs, the Cannon’s managed 11 base hits, four doubles, a triple and 15 total RBIs.
Swenson lead the team with a double and a triple, seven RBIs, and a walk.
Peabody got the win on the mound, going three innings with four strikeouts and only one run and one walk. Rory Schuller relieved in the fourth, with four strikeouts, but allowed 11 runs on 10 hits, eight of them earned.
“It was a grind it out doubleheader,” Sharp said. “We had injuries, but we’ve beaten (the Bandits) three times in a row.”
Wood Bat Tournament
Cannons vs. Central Washington Spuds
The Cannon’s didn’t fair as well in the annual non-league, multi-site Wood Bat Tournament, going 1-3 following the Independence Day holiday.
The Cannons started with a beating from the Central Washington Spuds on Friday, July 5, in a five inning, 10-0 shutout, where the Spuds pitcher held the Cannons to four hits, a single walk and three strikeouts.
The Cannons burned through three pitchers in the game. Starter Sam Gollehon took the loss on the mound, enduring three innings while allowing five hits, seven walks, eight runs, and striking out three.
“They were the Cinderella team of the tournament,” Sharp said of the Spuds, who had yet to win a game, but ended up taking second at the tournaments Medical Lake site.
Cannons at Montana Regulators
But the Cannons came back to deregulate the Montana Regulators in an 11-0 blowout the same day.
Short on pitchers, Sharp called up Gonzaga Prep’s Declan Sklut, who threw a complete game for the Cannons, getting nine strikeouts while allowing only four hits and two walks.
Swenson went 2 for 4 with a single, a double and three RBI’s. Hammond hit a triple and three RBIs.
“We hit the ball and scored runners in scoring position, which we normally struggle with,” Sharp said. “And we played good defense behind Declan. We did what we were supposed to do.”
Cannons vs. Spokane Crew
The Cannons faced the Spokane Crew on Saturday afternoon in a 19-3 loss. Cannons batters were 6 for 21 at the plate to the Crew’s 16 for 31.
Tommy Burnett started on the hill, allowing 14 runs on 10 hits and five walks before being relived at the top of the second.
“He had to suck it up,” Sharp said. “The Crew hit the ball really well, that’s all I can say about that.”
Cannons at Eastside Dodgers
The Eastside Dodgers bats came out early Saturday evening, taking a quick four run lead in the first. The Cannons answered back with one run each in the second and third, followed by a three-run third inning while holding off the Dodger offense.
But it was the first and last inning that gave the Dodgers a 7-5 win when they held the Cannon’s scoreless in the fifth and sixth while bringing in three of their own runners in the bottom of the fifth.
Again, it was opponent pitching that was the Cannon downfall. They went 6 for 24 at the plate, enduring 10 strikeouts, four of them looking.
“It was a tough one to lose,” Sharp said. “Nick Swenson came in and the Dodgers jumped on him.”
Of the offense Sharp said, “We hit the ball well but we struck out a lot.”
Cannons vs. Northwest Premier
Northwest Premier shut out the Cannons in the final tournament game in an 8-0 loss. In a repeat of the Dodgers game, the Northwest Premier took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning off starting lefty Aiden Kieffer, who managed to hold the Premier batters hitless until the bottom of the fourth, when they found Kieffer’s sweet spot and brought in four more runs. Brent Keith took the mound in the bottom of the fifth, allowing two hits, three walks and a run to close the came.
“He did well, kept them off balance,” Sharp said of Kieffer. “He did really well for us.”
The Cannons head to Whitefish, Mont. for the Whitefish Tournament with an overall 9-18-2 record, and 3-7 for fifth place in league play.
While a July 17 game against the Prairie Cardinals on July 17 is tentative, the Cannons head into the district playoffs on Thursday, July 18 at Shadle Park versus the Bandits in loser-out play.
Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].
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