Cubs at home-split with Orofino

The Lewis-Clark Cub hurlers were strong in the first game, but shaky in the second, allowing Orofino to salvage a split during a league doubleheader Wednesday at Harris Field.

The Cubs won the opener 5-4, but bowed in the nightcap 14-2.

L-C rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the first game to win by a single run, scoring once in the fifth inning and twice in the sixth. The Cubs scored the decisive run in the sixth when Gavin Grijalva bunted safely to load the bases before Coy Stout was struck by a pitch, sending an L-C runner home.

"It was just a good team effort and I think we got a good pitching performance," said L-C coach Ramon Royce, who singled out reliever Keegen Tanata. "(Tanata) came in and competed on the bump."

The second game was all Orofino.

L-C pitchers walked nine Merchants and "we got behing in a lot of counts," Royce said.

The Cubs coach also noted his team struggled with situational hitting.

Orofino, on the other hand, did not. The Merchants had 13 hits - four of those coming from Bayley Noah, who had two doubles and a triple. Kolby Brink, who had five hits in two games on Tuesday, added four more on Wednesday. The ex-Orofino High standout swatted a double and a home run in the first game.

The Cubs moved to 4-7 overall and 3-5 in league play with the split. They play host to St. Maries on Friday in a doubleheader.

FIRST GAME

Orofino Merchants 013 000 0-4 7 1

Lewis-Clark Cubs 002 012 x-5 7 3

Stephens, Turcott (6) and Wilson. Moliga, Tanata (4) and Stamper.

Orofino hits - Turcott, Wilson, Brink 2 (2B, HR), Noah, Howard, Hall.

Lewis-Clark hits - Wallace 2, Stout, Beckman, Stamper, Lopez 2.

SECOND GAME

Orofino Merchants 260 006-14 13 0

Lewis-Clark Cubs 002 000- 2 7 1

Olive and Turcott. Stout, Bonfield (3), Woods (4), Alspach (6) and Hanchett.

Orofino hits - Burke, Barajas, Turcott 2, Wilson, Brink 2, Noah 4 (2-2B, 3B), Walz, Sparano.

Lewis-Clark hits - Lopez 2, Moliga, Woods, Stamper, Hanchett (2B), Skinner.

Walla Walla Bruins 10, Lewis-Clark Cubs 0

Scoring three runs in the fourth inning and five more in the fifth, the Walla Walla Bruins pulled away late and eventually invoked the mercy rule to beat the Lewis-Clark Cubs Monday in a nonleague game at Harris Field.

L-C had just one hit in the game, from Tui Moliga, but the Cubs' offensive woes weren't necessarily the product of stellar pitching.

"We just didn't make adjustments," Cubs coach Ramon Royce said.

On the other end, Walla Walla got ahead in the count often and the Bruins capitalized when opportunities presented themselves.

"I feel that they had some good sticks in their lineup and they capitalized on being ahead in the count," Royce said. "They were ahead in the counts and we didn't pitch it very well and they took advantage. I feel like collectively, we didn't come to play."

L-C (3-6) is back on the diamond Wednesday for a home doubleheader against Orofino.

Walla Walla Bruins 002 350-10 13 0

Lewis-Clark Cubs 000 000- 0 1 1

Watkilo, Morris (6) and Ortiz. Stamper, Skinner (5), Beckman (6) and Moliga.

Walla Walla hits - Golden, Ahrens, Ko. Morris 2, Hamada, Norris 2, Ortiz, Ky. Morris 3, Weigland 2.

Lewis-Clark hits - Moliga.

Chris Powell's grand slam lifts Twins to Dwight Church Tournament title

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning, Chris Powell's persistence paid off, and in a big way, for the Lewis-Clark Twins in the title game of the Dwight Church Tournament.

With two balls and two strikes against him, Powell fouled off two more pitches before connecting on a grand slam to dead center field that would give Wyatt Baldwin all the run support he'd need to help the hosts close out the Missoula Mavericks 6-2 at Harris Field.

Earlier in the afternoon, L-C (8-2) dominated the Hanford Flames 11-0 in five innings.

2017 Dwight Church Champions



Powell's title-game bomb turned a one-run lead into a five-run lead and capped an impressive two-out rally from the home team. After Riley Way and and A.J. Davis grounded out to open the fifth, Chase Adkison doubled, then scored on Luke White's single to give the Twins a 2-1 edge. Jaden Phillips singled and Danny Robinson walked to load the bases for Powell.

Powell leveled a 1-2 count to 2-2 then fouled off a pair of pitches to stay alive.

"Once he fouled off the first picth, the dugout started getting louder and louder," L-C coach Kevin Maurer said. "When he finally connected on it, it was a pretty exciting moment for our squad.

"Just in that inning, the way our guys competed at the plate, they had a lot of tough at-bats as a whole."

Equally impressive was the pitching effort the Twins received from Baldwin. The Lewiston High standout needed only 57 pitches to go the distance, despite conceding a leadoff home run in the top of the first inning. In five of his seven innings, Baldwin threw less than 10 pitches.

"For him to challenge every single guy after that (home run) was pretty impressive," Maurer said.

The third element of the Twins' championship was defense. One day after L-C committed five errors in a single game against the same Mavericks squad, the Twins managed to go 12 innings - five against Hanford and seven against Missoula - without making a single defensive mistake.

"Our defense got a lot of baseballs in that game and they made play after play behind (Wyatt)," Maurer said.

In the early game, L-C starter Cooper Lund didn't give up a free pass and only conceded three hits in a shutout effort. The highlight, though, was when Lund caught a Hanford runner snoozing in the fourth inning and executed the first successful pickoff of his career.

That netted Lund a $50 prize from one L-C parent in attendance.

"He was pretty excited when that happened," Maurer added.

Hanford Flames 000 00- 0 3 1

Lewis-Clark Twins 146 0x-11 7 0

Poletski, Oldfield (5) and Young. Lund and Fuller.

Hanford hits - Simpkins, Manderbach, Young.

Lewis-Clark hits - Way (2B), Davis, Phillips (2B), Washburn (3B), Baldwin (2B), Fuller, Olson.

---

Missoula Mavericks 100 000 1-2 5 1

Lewis-Clark Twins 001 050 x-6 10 0

Stevens, Martin (6) and Schock. Baldwin and Adkison.

Missoula hits - Yovetich (HR), Fraser 2, Schock (2B), Richardson.

Lewis-Clark hits - Davis, Adkison 2 (2B), White 2, Phillips, Powell 2 (HR), Shoults, Olson.

 

Twins drop heartbreaker to Missoula Mavs

A back-and-forth contest swung in favor of the Missoula Mavericks on Saturday, as the Lewis-Clark Twins dropped a 5-4 battle during the third day of the Dwight Church Tournament at Harris Field. The Twins (6-2) entered the final frame with the game knotted at 4-4, but a wild pitch with two outs gave the Mavericks the late-inning victory. "We had an opportunity to win that game, but it was one of those where we end up beating ourselves," Lewis-Clark coach Kevin Maurer said. Kyle Van Boeyen propelled the Twins pitching staff with a strong start, while Luke White took the bump midway through the fifth to close the game. "Kyle walked himself into some really tight situations, but he ended up giving us 4 2/3 strong innings," Maurer said. "Luke came in after and did a phenomenal job of living in the strike zone." The Twins were dealt an initial blow when Riley Way hurt his knee in the opening inning. AJ Davis made the transition from second base to shortstop and lifted the team with his defensive play. "The first three balls of the game were hit to him at second," Maurer said. "And then he moved over and immediately had some more hit his way." Davis also provided an impact at the plate with two hits, including an extra-base knock for Lewis-Clark. "All season long he's been very consistent for us up there," Maurer said. "He has quality at-bats and gives us a lot of opportunities." The Mavericks trailed by a single run entering the bottom of the sixth, but a trio of errors allowed Missoula to steal a 4-3 lead. "We just had some mental lapses in that inning that we could have been out of with no harm," Maurer said. "That's just baseball sometimes, it's something we're going to have to learn from. In those tight situations, we need to play clean baseball, and this is a group that is capable of doing that." The Twins limited the Mavericks to six hits on the night, but Maurer said Missoula found a way to generate offense when it needed to. "Credit to them, they put the pressure on us, and that's what you've got to do on the offensive side," Maurer said. In other tournament action, the Hanford Flames beat the Spokane North Stars by a score of 4-1. The Stars also fell to the Mavericks in a 13-5 loss. The Southridge Bandits pulled out a pair of wins during the day, besting Hodgen Distributing 11-10 and handing the Flames a 4-3 defeat. Lewis-Clark still has an opportunity to reach the tournament championship today, but the Twins will first have to go through Hanford in a 3 p.m. matchup. Missoula sits as the only unbeaten team left in the tournament. The Mavericks square off with the Bandits in a noon matchup. Hodgen will also take the diamond for a 9 a.m. meeting with Spokane. "It's still up for grabs," Maurer said. "I know this team will be ready to go tomorrow." Lewis-Clark 210 000 1-4 9 5 Missoula 001 012 1-5 6 2 Kyle Van Boeyen, Luke White (5) and Nate Savolainen. Drew Leonard and Spencer Schrock. Lewis-Clark hits - Riley Way, Julian Washburn, AJ Davis 2 (2B), Luke White, Jaden Phillips (2B), Nate Savolainen 2, Ryder Scholuts.

Washburn leads Twins to win over the Southridge Bandits.

The final statline might not have reflected dominant pitching, but Julian Washburn's commanding performance on the mound Friday helped the Lewis-Clark Twins earn a 10-3 win over the Southridge Bandits. The senior right-hander scattered nine hits in a complete-game showing on the second day of the Dwight Church Tournament at Harris Field. "This was his best start of the year," Lewis-Clark coach Kevin Maurer said. "Each time he gave up a hit, he didn't let them get too much farther." Washburn didn't allow a walk and threw only 15 pitches in the final two innings of play. The senior got an early boost from his offense, which scored four runs in the opening inning. "I was very impressed with how we came out of the gate, with it being our first night game against a really good team," Maurer said. "We had three hits that inning, all coming with two strikes, so we had some very tough at-bats." Jaden Phillips propelled the Twins (6-1) during the inning with a bases-clearing double to plate three runs. Leadoff batter Riley Way went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles. "In all four of his at-bats he was able to square the ball up," Maurer said of Way's approach at the plate. The Twins put the game away in the bottom of the fourth with a six-run scoring outburst fueled by five hits. "Their pitcher did a pretty good job of keeping us off balance with his off-speed," Maurer said. "We asked our guys before the inning to take it the other way." In other tournament action, the Hanford Flames earned a mercy-rule 10-2 victory over Hodgen Distributing, while the Missoula Mavericks also secured a 7-0 shutout against Hodgen. Today's slate includes a 9 a.m. matchup between Hanford and the Spokane North Stars, while Hodgen continues play in an 11:45 a.m. meeting against Southridge. The Bandits are also scheduled to play in a 2:30 p.m. game against the Flames, while Spokane squares off with Missoula at 4:45 p.m. The Twins cap off the night with a 7:30 p.m. game against the Mavericks. Southridge 000 120 0-3 9 1 Lewis-Clark 400 600 x-10 9 3 Harvey, Perez (4) and Hailey. Julian Washburn and Jackson Fuller. Southridge hits - J. Harvey 2, K. Harvey 2 (2B), Spivey, Sanders (2B), Hailey (2B), Midili 2. Lewis-Clark hits - Riley Way 2 (2-2B), AJ Davis, Chase Adkison 2, Luke White (2B), Jaden Phillips (2B), Danny Robinson 2, Kolt Olson.

Twins drop North Stars in home debut

The Lewis-Clark Twins opened their home schedule in style - both results-wise and uniform-wise. The Twins rolled to an 8-0 victory over the Spokane North Stars on Thursday at Church Field during the first day of the Dwight Church Tournament. The game was stopped after six innings on the tournament's eight-run mercy rule. L-C (5-1) jumped ahead immediately, with Riley Way reaching base after being hit by a pitch, then scoring on AJ Davis' triple. Davis also scrambled home on an error on the play. The Twins added to their lead on Chris Powell's three-run double in the third. L-C starting pitcher Wyatt Baldwin didn't allow any hits in his three-inning stint, and was pulled to leave him eligible to pitch Sunday. Nate Savolainen worked the last three innings, giving up three hits and no runs. This game marked the debut of the Twins' black uniform tops - the first time L-C has sported such a look in recent memory. It will compliment their usual green jerseys. "We've had gray, yellow, white," Twins coach Kevin Maurer said. "This is a jersey that's never been defeated in." One other game in the tournament, between the Missoula Mavericks and Hanford Flames, got started but was eventually rained out. That and the Twins' Thursday nightcap against Hodgen Distributing were canceled because of rain. One game from today's schedule was eliminated to leave each team with four games in the tournament. Here is today's slate as it now stands: Hanford Flames vs. Hodgen Distributing, 1 p.m.; Missoula Mavericks vs. Hodgen Distributing, 4 p.m.; Lewis-Clark Twins vs. Southridge Bandits, 7 p.m. Lewis-Clark Twins 203 111-8 9 0 Spokane North Stars 000 000-0 3 1 Baldwin, Savolainen (4) and Adkison. Bolden, Hauser (5) and Ross. Twins hits - Way (2B), Davis 2 (3B), Robinson (3B), Phillips, Powell (2B), Van Boeyen (2B), Olson 2. North Stars hits - Adams, Ross, Kraufz.

2017 Lewis Clark Twins