Irish stop Bulldogs state bid with one run

Colfax High School baseball season finished late Saturday with DeSales taking a one-run win in the last state regional round at Walla Walla.

The Irish scored the game’s lone run in the first inning before the two teams locked up in a pitching battle. After seven frames the Irish still had the one-run lead and one of the four tickets to the state show this weekend Ellensburg.

"It was a great game to watch, probably the best game we played all year," Colfax Coach Mike Parrish commented.

Both teams advanced to the last round, the round of eight, after eliminating the other two entrants in the four-team set at Walla Walla.

Colfax notched a 9-5 first round win over Riverside Christian of Yakima, and DeSales hammered Kittitas 14-0 on their opener.

Desales power pitcher Cam Richman, a sophomore, and Colfax lefty Patrick Jacobs waged the pitching battle. Each allowed four hits.

Parrish noted Jacobs early in the game switched to off-speed pitches when he realized DeSales batters were beginning to get a read on his fastball pitch.

Lone score of the game came in the first inning when when the Irish leadoff hitter got on base via a Colfax error and later scored on a double.

Colfax put runners on third and second in the fourth inning when Brady Ellis rapped a leadoff double and Jacobs drew a walk. Richman got out of the inning with a strikeout.

Dylan Heiser led off the sixth inning with a single, but again Richman and the Irish defense failed to bend.

DeSales advanced to state with just two losses this year, one to a big Grandview club and one to Asotin.

In the 9-5 win over Riverview in the first round, the Bulldogs scored eight runs in the third inning to erase a 3-0 RV lead.

Austin Getz started the charge with a single and came back in the bottom of the innings for another single. Brock Morgan and Jacobs had the other hits in the inning.The Bulldogs also moved runners along with bunts by Dylan Heiser and Mark Webber, a walk to Ellis, a hit batter and two of the four errors committed by the Yakima Valley contenders.

Colfax senior Brady Ellis allowed six hits, fanned three and walked just three in his final game for the Bulldogs.

Colfax ended the season with an 18-6 record. Coach Parrish noted the Bulldogs will lose five seniors, but they have a lot of young players who picked up a wealth of experience on the campaign. He also expects some of the recruits from the eighth grade team this year could make an early mark with the Bulldogs next year.

The regionals also marked the end of the trail for Northwest Christian and the LRS Broncos, the other two NE qualifiers. Asotin bumped the Crusaders 4-3, and Liberty Christain stopped LRS 6-4. The Patriots topped Asotin for the Spokane ticket to the final four at Ellensbug.