A six-run seventh inning lifted the Walla Walla Community College baseball team over Blue Mountain, and the Warriors held on to complete a sweep of their doubleheader with a 7-5 comeback win in Northwest Athletic Conference East Region action on the Tausick Way Field on Monday.
In the first game — which WWCC took, 4-3 — pinch-hitter Lowden Smith singled home the go-ahead run with one out in the eighth inning.
“We competed hard in both games,” Warriors coach Dave Meliah said. “Our pitchers threw enough strikes, and we had some timely hitting. Those are always good recipes for winning.”
The Warriors (13-9 overall, 4-4 in the East) finished the day in a three-way tie for third place in the division with Columbia Basin and Big Bend. The Hawks split their Monday twin bill in Pasco with Wenatchee Valley.
WWCC next will have a chance to close in on the first-place Sasquatch with a doubleheader on Wednesday in Spokane starting at 1 p.m.
Spokane (7-1 in the East) is tied with Yakima Valley atop the regional standings, three games ahead of the Warriors.
Clutch hitting lifted WWCC over Blue Mountain on Monday.
Danny Robinson homered for WWCC in the second inning, but the Warriors later found themselves clinging to a 3-2 lead after Kealen Martin and Cooper Larson both had hit run-scoring singles in the third.
After four straight scoreless frames from WWCC starting pitcher Caleb Burnham, Blue Mountain tied things up on TJ Rea’s one-out RBI triple in the seventh. Burnham then induced a pair of groundouts to leave Rea stranded at third base, with the score knotted at 3-3.
Following a scoreless top of the eighth innning by from WWCC reliever Wyatt Baldwin, Martin coaxed a walk to lead off the home half. Larson then singled Martin to second base with one out, and Meliah tapped into his bench — inserting Blake Loftus to run for Martin, Smith to hit for Jordan Lester. On a 2-0 pitch, Smith singled home Loftus to put WWCC back on top.
Baldwin made the lead stand with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.
WWCC then got off to a quiet start in the nightcap before batting around against three Blue Mountain pitchers in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Facing a 3-1 deficit going in, the Warriors put together a six-run rally with RBI hits from Sean Coffey and Brayde Hirai as well as a bases-loaded walk and a Blue Mountain error.
WWCC finished the inning with a 7-3 lead, and held on to complete the sweep.
“We didn’t play perfect by any means,” Meliah said. “But we overcame some of our mental mistakes and made big plays at the end of the each game.”
First Game
Blue Mountain110000100—370
Walla Walla01200001x—492
Gritz and Cantonwine. Burnham, Baldwin (8) and Lester, Musick (9).
HR — WWCC: Robinson.
Hits — BM: Durfinger 2, Rea 2, Broom, Salsman, Hixenbaugh. WWCC: Larson 3, Coffey 2, K. Martin, Smith, Robinson, Garza.
Second Game
Blue Mountain000020120—5132
Walla Walla00000160x—7123
Connolly, Juhasz (7), Keough (7) and Durfinger. Washburn, Ogata (6), Evenhus (8), Haughton (8), Peterson (9) and Musick.
HR — none.
Hits — BM: Durfinger 4, Salsman 4, Broom 3, Sutton, Friesz. WWCC: O’Rourke 2, K. Martin 2, Robinson 2, Coffey, Smith, Larson, Hirai, Lafontaine, Garza.
Union Bulletin
