Former Medical Lake Cardinal and current Wenatchee Valley Community College Knight Luke Dickey delivers a pitch during his one inning of relief in the West Plains Cannons 6-2 American Legion victory May 27 over the Spokane Bandits.
West Plains Cannons' head Coach Austin Sharp was initially somewhat worried about knitting together the various pieces of his roster from several different schools for his AAA American Legion Baseball team.
After four games the parts seem to be blending well and holding together just fine.
A 6-2 Memorial Day win over the Spokane Bandits at Hart Field moved the team to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in Spokane ALB standings.
"I think the offense will come as everybody gets comfortable with each other," Sharp said.
The Bandits' game was a breeze considering the Cannons had a pair of come-from-behind wins, 5-4 and 7-5 against the Kelly Brady Bagpipers of Shadle Park on May 22.
Both games needed rallies as the Cannons scored single runs in both the top of the sixth and seventh innings for the first win. They then needed a big finish with five runs in the last two at-bats. Andrew Roberts of Medical Lake walked and later scored on a ground ball by Tate Nelson from Reardan for the deciding fifth run.
In the Game 2 of the doubleheader the Cannons needed a three-run fifth and a pair in the sixth to rally from a 5-2 deficit.
Cheney's Coleman Randles smacked a one-out double and later scored to break the 5-5 tie in the sixth. AJ Michaud followed with a two-out single and scored on Mark Bell's double for the insurance.
Behind Tate Heuschkel's six innings as a starter where he struck out six and scattered six hits, and Luke Dickey closing, the Cannons made the best of just four hits in beating the Bandits out of Lewis and Clark.
Cheney's Clayton Wood had a pair of hits and two RBIs with the big one a triple in the sixth that drove in ML's Adam Rutland.
For the most part,, the Cannons have won with "small ball" and getting timely hits to just the right places.
"I think we scored three of our six runs today (vs. the Bandits) on infield outs," Sharp said.
The Cannons had a return engagement home game vs. the Bandits, May 28.
They traveled to Coeur d'Alene May 30 for a traditional season-opening non-league contest against the Lumbermen .
They close out the month with a pair of games vs. a new club program, the Rawlings Tigers, May 31 at Holliday Field at 5 and 7:30 p.m.
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