Cannons prep for grind ahead

CHENEY - The West Plains Cannons got a preview of how their immediate future will look with a schedule of seven games in six days.

The Cannons travel to play at the Missoula Tournament this week, then to Selah for the Pepsi Park tourney before hosting a pod at the annual Wood Bat Tournament starting July 4.

Hopefully these results are just as pleasing?

The current leaders in the Spokane AAA American Legion division won a pair of league games and were close to winning the Father's Day tournament they hosted.

Just past the halfway point in the regular season, West Plains still sits undefeated at 8-0 following wins of 9-8 on June 11 and 12-4 the following day over Gonzaga Prep.

They finished the week battling back from an opening night 6-5 loss to Pullman in the Father's Day tourney, June 13, to top Mt. Spokane 7-4 (June 14), Tri Cities Prep 15-1 (June 15) and earn a shot at the trophy, June 16.

On Father's Day they opened with a 6-2 win over the Columbia Basin Riverdogs and closed with an 8-0 loss to G-Prep for the championship.

"A 5-2 week was not bad," head coach Austin Sharp said.

Trailing 7-6 at home vs. Prep in the bottom of the sixth, Cheney's Clayton Wood stole home for the lead and Reardan's Tate Nelson singled to score Taylor Oliver from Medical Lake for the insurance.

Earlier in the second, Cy Reeves from Lakeside hit a home run to right field to drive in a pair.

The following evening in Spokane a pair of four-run innings in the third and fifth were the difference.

ML's Andrew Roberts went 3-for-5 - all doubles - driving in three. Cheney's Brayden Martin and Adam Rutland from Medical Lake each had a pair of hits. Martin scored three times and Rutland twice.

Medical Lake's Luke Dickey (4 innings) and Cheney's Tate Heuschkel (3 innings) combined for nine strikeouts as the Cannons stayed undefeated in league play.

The Cannons had a 3-2 lead through six in their Father's Day Tournament opener vs. Pullman but the Patriots scored four times tolled 6-3.

Roberts, Rutland and Coleman Randles each had a pair of hits as Randles effort included a triple.

"Pullman always plays us tough," Sharp said.

The Cannons began their eventual journey back to the title game topping Mt. Spokane scoring in each of the first four innings, including a three-run fourth.

Rutland and N.W. Christian's Jacob Bell each had a pair of hits.

Bell's big bat, which included a home run, drove in four runs on three hits against Tri Cities Prep in a three-inning, 10-run run shortened game. The Cannons scored 12 runs in the third to effectively end it.

Besides Bell, AJ Michaud, Martin and Wood had multiple hits. Oliver pitched three innings and kept the opponents hitless.

"Martin and Randles are getting on base a ton," Sharp said, adding Martin stole nine bases last week.

A two-run sixth put the visiting Cannons in the lead and scoring another pair of runs in the top of the seventh were insurance in a game where the winner advanced to the title game against Gonzaga Prep.

Michaud and Bell each had two hits from the Cannons, one of Bell's being a triple. Heuschkel pitched a complete game striking out eight.

Prep, it seems was due to break out of a streak of nine consecutive losses vs. West Plains. And they did by ending the game with a five-run fifth. The tournament had an ending point when a lead reached eight after five innings.

The Cannons (14-3 overall) had a pair of ALB league games, a doubleheader vs. Chewelah, June 18, before departing for the Missoula Tournament where they face both new and familiar opponents. West Plains opens vs. Mt. Spokane (June 20) and G-Prep (June 23) with contests against Missoula (June 21) and Great Falls (June 22).

"We have everybody (going)," Sharp said.