Bears beat Tri-Cities Prep for District 5/6 title, advance to state

Payback a year later

The 2018 District 5/6 baseball champions pose with their trophy at the Rec Park ball diamond in Wenatchee last Saturday after the Brewster Bears dethroned last year’s champion Tri-Cities Prep Jaguars.

Joe Taylor on the run

Jeff Sonneman, right, makes it safely back to first base in a pick-off attempt by Tri-Cities Prep.

Quincy Vassar, 35, beats the throw as he steals second base.

Pitcher Joe Taylor throws to first baseman Corey Jarrell in a pick-off attempt against a Jaguars base runner.

Posted Thursday, May 17, 2018 3:00 am

Mike Maltias

BREWSTER – The Bears varsity baseball team leveraged a big four-run second inning into sweet revenge and a 12-6 win and the District 5/6 title over Tri-Cities Prep at Wenatchee’s Rec Park last Saturday, May 12. The victory was a payback moment for the Bears who lost to the District champion Jaguars last year.
Following a scoreless first inning, Brewster came out swinging in the second to take an early lead that they would never relinquish.
Once again, we landed the first punch and did a good job limiting their rallies and keeping the pressure on them,” said head coach Todd Phillips. “Scoring first opens up our running game so much more because we can be more and more aggressive.”
Phillips said he thought TCP “overlooked us…they did not respect us or take us seriously at all.”
The Jaguars didn’t even start their ace pitcher until late in the game.
If TCP thought this year’s rematch would end similar to last season’s 12-0 shutout of the Bears, they got a sobering wake-up call, as Phillips said his team went into the championship game with a different approach from the previous season.
“Last year I think we were just happy to be in the championship,” said Phillips. “This year we went there to win it.”
Sophomore Kade Kelpman got the Bears’ juggernaut rolling with a single. A sacrifice bunt off the bat of Jeff Sonneman advanced Kelpman to second. Freshman Logan McGuire reached base on an error and Jorge Ramirez brought Kelpman home on a double for Brewster’s first run
Then it was Turk Riggan’s turn. The eighth-grader grounded out up the middle to score McGuire. Joe Taylor singled and stole second before Corey Jarrell singled to score the final two runs in the second.
In the third inning Quincy Vassar singled, stole second and a Sonneman single sent him to third. Vassar scored the Bears’ fifth run on a McGuire sacrifice fly.
The Jaguars pounced on their first run in the bottom of the third inning, and scored again in the fourth, but Brewster added its sixth run in the fourth to maintain a 6-2 lead. In the sixth inning the Bears added two more runs.
TCP went to its ace thrower in the fifth inning and closed the gap to 8-6 two with a pair of runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings. Then, in the top of the seventh, the Bears put the game out of reach.
Sonneman was hit by a pitch to get on base. McGuire walked, and Ramirez loaded the bases when he was also struck by a pitch.
“With two outs, Joe Taylor doubled to score two,” said Phillips.” Ramirez scored on a passed ball and Jarrell singled in Taylor for his fifth RBI of the game.”