Summer Hawks AA off to state at No.4

Four wins last week in six games in the district tournament will send the Cheney Summer Hawks AA team to the state tournament July 22-25 in Burlington, Wash. as the No. 4 seed from Area 3.

Cheney takes a 20-6 record into the tournament following wins of 11-1 over the Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen and 5-4 against Gonzaga Prep AA on July 13. They followed with a 5-0 win over Mt. Spokane (July 15) and a 10-5 loss to Mead, (July 16) before splitting with Prep, a 4-3 win and a 5-3 loss to Mt. Spokane (July 17).

“We played very well this season and hopefully that continues next week in Burlington,” head coach Rob Beamer wrote in a text message.

Mt. Spokane rallied past Cheney, which led 3-2, scoring twice in the sixth and adding one more run in the seventh to take the win in the game that decided spots No. 3 and No. 4 in district seeding. Tate Heuschkel was the only Summer Hawk with multiple hits.

The Summer Hawks had their own late rally against Prep, scoring three times in the bottom of the seventh for the walk-off victory.

Brayden Martin’s single, his second hit of the game, drove in Tank Best for the winning run. Jake Swanson also had two hits.

Scoring four times in the top of the sixth gave Mead the breathing room they needed in its win. Colman Randles had two hits for Cheney.

Heuschkel pitched seven innings, giving up just two hits and striking out eight in the first game against Mt. Spokane. Heuschkel also had a pair of hits and Randles two RBI.

Cheney chipped away at a 4-2 G-Prep lead by scoring once in the fourth and twice in the top of the sixth to claim the win. Dawes Hanson’s double, followed by Heuschkel reaching base on an error allowed Hanson to score.

Facing the team that pegged them with their lone loss, 2-1 in the Wood Bat Tournament a couple of weeks ago, Cheney had a 7-1 lead after just two innings against CDA.

Greyson Burton (2-for-2, 3 RBI) and Martin (2-for-3, 2 RBI) backed Miles Hoover’s complete game with their bats.

Chewelah and Asotin, along with Mt. Spokane, are the 1-2-3 seeds joining Cheney at the tournament.

Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at [email protected].