Bears beats Patriots, Irish to advance to District 5/6 championship

BREWSTER – The Bears varsity baseball team put together back-to-back wins over Liberty Christian, 5-2, and DeSales, 18-2, in the respective quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the District 5/6 tournament at Moses Lake last Saturday, May 5, to advance to the championship game against Tri-Cities Prep at Wenatchee’s Rec Park at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 12.
“We came out and jumped on them early like we wanted to,” said head coach Todd Phillips.
By jumping out early Phillips meant the 3-0 lead that the Bears grabbed in the first inning and never let the Patriots back into the game. The scoring punch of Joe Taylor, Corey Jarrell, Isaac Baker and Kade Kelpman put Brewster’s three runs on the board early.
A Cade Gebbers single in the second inning and sacrifice fly by Turk Riggan scored the fourth run.
Logan McGuire walked in the fourth inning and advanced on  Gebbers ground out before scoring the Bears fifth and final run of the game.
Two hours later, Brewster tutored DeSales in a fourth inning hitting clinic that put 13 runs across the plate and put the Irish in a hole too deep for them to escape.
“We did a great job of maintaining our intensity all the way through this thing,” said Phillips of the always-tough DeSales squad.
This time around the Irish struggled from the mound and in the fourth inning “their wheels fell off,” said Phillips. “They threw five different pitchers in the fourth. We had 14 straight runners reach (base) with one out.”
That was the inning that sealed the game.
Bears ends undefeated season with win over Tonasket

May 1
BREWSTER – The 2018 Central Washington 2B league baseball champion Bears defeated Tonasket, 10-1, on Senior Night last Tuesday, May 1, to wrap up an undefeated regular season.
Head coach Todd Phillips said it was a bittersweet game for him because while the team celebrated a successful season, it also bid farewell to Caiden Riggan, the single senior on the squad.
Phillips described Riggan as “the epitome/e of what we want a Brewster baseball player to be.”
“Caiden Riggan has been one of the hardest workers and best teammates I have ever coached,” said Phillips. “He brings integrity and focus to the field every day and never has to be told what to do or how to do things our way. He does what is right and the right way every day.”
Phillips said that Riggan’s leadership will be missed and hopes that upcoming seniors will follow his example.
Riggan celebrated his final home game in a Bears uniform by leading the team in RBIs with three and smacked his first double of the year.
“He went out with a bang,” Phillips said.
In hindsight, Brewster had the game won in the first inning with three runs although Phillips said his team struggled to score runs as the game progressed.
“In the first, Joe (Taylor) got on off an error with one out and Corey Jarrell singled,” said Phillips. “Isaac Baker singled to drive in a run and Turk Riggan reached on an error that pushed another man across. Caiden Riggan drew a bases-loaded walk to score out third of the inning.”
In the second inning Jeff Sonneman walked and reached second on a passed ball, moved to third on a walk, and scored on Taylor’s single, Phillips said. Taylor then singled, stole a base and scored on a Jarrell ground out. Quincy Vassar walked and scored on Kade Kelpman’s single. Turk Riggan walked, and Caiden Riggan drove both Kelpman and Turk Riggan home with a double.
The Bears scored twice more in the third inning and Tonasket put one run on the board. By the end of the third the scoring was done for both teams.