Consistency has been a trait that has eluded the Walla Walla Community College baseball team far too often in the early stages of the 2019 season, according to first-year head coach Justin Speer.
The latest episode unfolded Wednesday at Warrior Field, where WWCC opened Northwest Athletic Conference Eastern Region play with a pair of losses to Spokane, 9-3 and 4-2.
Walla Walla slipped to 2-14 on the season while Spokane improved to 11-7.
Spokane’s Nick Merkel tossed eight solid innings in game one. He allowed five hits, walked two, and struck out 11.
The Warriors sliced a 4-0 deficit in half during the bottom of the eighth inning on two-out, RBI singles by Lane Hailey and Danny Robinson.
WWCC’s final run scored in the ninth when Carson Green hit into a 6-4 fielder’s choice.
Walla Walla tallied single runs in the third and sixth innings of game two. Robinson poked an RBI double in the third and Green brought home the latter run with a single.
“We need to find a way offensively to pick our pitchers up,” Speer said. “We’re not playing a full nine (innings) right now, but it’s not that we’re not trying.”
The Warriors play Saturday at Big Bend starting at 1 pm.
Article by Roy Elia of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
