Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
It is late July in Walla Walla and the dust kicked up at Borleske Stadium is from teams playing for the American Legion state AA baseball title.
The rosters, made up of high school players juggling time with jobs, other off-season sports and more, round up summer on the diamonds with this.
If things go right, they may win a championship before dropping the mitts and stepping up into a harvest truck or reaching for a football helmet.
The Pullman Posse is in the thick of state tournament contention, splitting two games this week before winning a do-or-die against University and then beating West Valley Tuesday night to advance to the quarterfinals.
Wednesday at 1 p.m. the Posse will face Walla Walla. The winner stays on to meet West Valley (again) a half hour later for a slot in the championship game.
Posse 7, West Valley 5
A four-run fifth inning for the Posse proved enough to hold off West Valley.
Hogan Heytvelt and Zane Wilson led at the plate, both hitting two-RBI singles while Nate Akesson, Payton Kallaher and Jackson Horner also delivered RBI-base hits.
On the mound, Connor Parrish started for the Posse, throwing four innings to allow five runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Konner Kinkade came in for two innings in relief, allowing no runs, no hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Posse 9, University 1
Summer baseball continued for the Posse after a 9-1 win over University in a do-or-die game Monday in the state tournament.
The Posse scored two runs in the second inning and seven in the fifth to keep their quest alive.
Jackson Horner delivered a single and a two-RBI double to lead at the plate while Jake Wells also hit a double and a single. Wilson added another double and Konner Kinkade, Akesson and Grady Benton all hit singles.
On the mound, Kallaher pitched five innings to allow two hits with three strikeouts, three walks and no runs. Chase Hayton pitched in relief, throwing two innings to give up two hits, one (earned) run and no walks.
Caleb Morton and Jack Alpert led University, both hitting doubles.
Sedro-Woolley 6, Posse 4
Playing in their second game of the state tournament, the Posse met Sedro-Woolley, losing 6-4.
Down 6-1 in the second inning, Pullman scored one run in the third and two in the sixth but could not further close the gap.
Hogan Heytvelt opened on the mound for the Posse, pitching four innings to allow six runs (three earned), four hits and four walks with four strikeouts.
Kyle Appel pitched in relief for three innings, allowing no runs, three hits and two walks with a strikeout.
Benton caught for the Posse.
At bat, Wells hit a triple, Benton hit a double and scored a run, Kallaher hit an RBI-double and Akesson got a single and scored a run. Also, Appel delivered a base hit and scored two runs while Wilson had a sacrifice fly for an RBI.
For Sedro-Woolley, Colton Schwetz got the win on the mound, throwing five innings to allow six hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Alex Hulst came in for the save with one inning of work, allowing no runs and no hits with a strikeout.
COUGARS FALL AT SINGLE A
The single-A American Legion baseball team Whitman County Cougars went to Linden, Wash., last weekend for the start of the 16-team state tournament.
Playing in a double-elimination format, the team lost Tuesday to Walla Walla 5-3, ending their state run.
The Cougars opened against Linden Christian on July 22 for a 16-4 win. On Sunday, they lost to Walla Walla 11-2 followed by a win over Eastmont Monday, 4-3.
Single-A is the American Legion division for younger high school players.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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