Bulldogs beat Wildcats, advance

Logan Gingerich slides home on a passed ball as Wilbur/Creston pitcher Jason Townsend covers the plate.

Colfax baseball players scored all eight of their runs in the third inning Tuesday at McDonald Park to get an 8-2 win over the Wilbur/Creston Wildcats and advance to the second round of district action next Monday at Medical Lake.

The Wildcats matched up against Colfax after taking out Reardan 13-6 in the first elimination game.

The two games at Colfax were among a total of eight games Tuesday at four NE sites. Losers from the eight games were eliminated from the playoff trail.

The league will qualify four teams for the state's regional round of 16 teams which will be pared down for the final four in the state finals.

Colfax, which had stacked up a run of shutout games, ran into a tough foe in the Tuesday eliminator. The Wildcats actually pegged a 1-0 lead after the first inning and booked four hits going into the third inning.

Colfax coach Mike Parrish credited Wildcat pitcher Jason Townsend and Brock Kane with keeping the Bulldog batters off balance. Also, both teams played through the elimination round without making an error.

One gain for Colfax was the 11 walks given up by Townsend and Kane. They also pegged two Colfax batters.

Colfax in the third inning scored the eight runs with three hits, walks and a fielder's choice. Parker Huber and Danny Robinson hit RBI singles, and Cal Gregory had a two-run single. Kieron Anderson hit to a fielder's choice to score another one of the runs, and Logan Gingerich, who drew a walk, scored on a passed ball.

After the Colfax charge, WC managed to keep the lid on the Colfax offense with Kane relieving Townsend at the end of the fourth inning.

Huber started for Colfax and hit a rough start but later settled down. He struck out eight Wildcats, walked two and allowed five hits. Robinson pitched the last two innings, fanned two, walked zero and allowed one hit.