Thursday, March 28, 2024

Meet Asotin May 24

Bears maul NWC, Colfax on road to state finals

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(Compiled from a report by coach Todd Phillips)
SPOKANE – The Brewster Bears varsity baseball team is guaranteed no less than fourth place at State following two wins in Regional play against Northwest Christian (Colbert) and Colfax last Saturday, May 18.

Brewster ended the march of the NWC Crusaders, 7-0, in the first round of loser-out play at the Wenatchee Recreational Field, and grounded the Falcons, 11-1 in six innings in the round of eight later in the afternoon.

Defending state champion Tri-Cities Prep made it to the round of eight on a 3-1 win over Liberty Bell at Pete Orgill Field in Yakima but fell to Asotin, 1-0, to be eliminated. Next weekend’s State finals at Centralia’s Wheeler Field will pit the Bears against Asotin and Rainier against Kalama in the final four.

“We had a great day defensively against NWC,” said Bears head coach Todd Phillips. “We had a pretty good day at the plate as well.”

Brewster jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning.

“I felt like scoring a run right off the bat gave us a slight mental edge,” said Phillips adding that the only reason the Bears didn’t score two runs was prevented by a collision between runner Joe Taylor and a base umpire who was out of position. “Strangest thing ever,” Phillips said.

It was quiet until the fourth inning when Ashworth walked and scored on a Logan McGuire double. McGuire stole third and scored on a Mason Kelly single.

“We really blew things open and sealed the deal in the fifth,” Phillips said.

Taylor singled and went from first to third base on a failed pick-off attempt. Corey Jarrell walked and scored behind Taylor on a Quincy Vassar double.

“Pinch runner Jeff Sonneman want to third on a balk and scored on a passed ball,” said Phillips. “With two outs Kade Kelpman drew a walk, stole second and scored our seventh run on another Kelly RBI single.”

Phillips said the Crusaders’ pitcher, Gunnar Kuehl “might have been the best straight pitcher we’ve seen all year” with 11 strike outs against the Bears.

Brewster’s Connor Ashworth “was phenomenal on the mound again,” said Phillips. “Connor took control of the game and was ready to go from the first pitch.”

Falcons grounded
“We are extremely excited to punch our ticket back to the final four,” said Phillips. “We are getting closer and closer to accomplishing the goals we established for ourselves this year.”

Since the Bears placed second at State last year, it’s not difficult to divine what one of those goals might be.

“We really came out and attacked the baseball in this game,” said Phillips of the 10-run mercy rule finish. “We got an early lead when Taylor led off with a double, went to third on a passed ball and scored on a Jarrell RBI.”

It just kept getting better from there as the Bears added another run in the second, two more in the third, one in the fourth, and three in the sixth. Meanwhile Colfax scored once in the second but were 10 rounds down by the sixth and final inning.

Brewster faces Asotin at 7 p.m. Friday, May 24, in Centralia. The winner will face the winner of Kalama - Rainier at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 25, for the title. The loser will play for third and fourth place at State.

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