Posse books 1-2 record in Legion AA state finals

Last chapter of summer Legion baseball went into the books Monday when the Walla Walla Bruins shut out Pullman Posse 2-0 Monday at the State Legion AA playoffs in Yakima. The loss eliminated the locals who finished with a 1-2 mark in the 16-team state championship campaign.

Posse, led by Pullman Coach Gabby Rodriquez, was the only team among the three county Legion squads to advance to the state finals. The Patriots were bumped out of the AAA division, and the Whitman Cougars were bumped from the A division in district rounds at Spokane last week.

Posse’s state campaign was at Davis High in Yakima, one of two sites for the big state event. Other finalists paired off at Parker Field.

The Posse state run started with a 6-9 loss Saturday to a top-seeded Mount Vernon team, and continued Sunday with a 4-0 shutout over Wilder.

In the last game Monday, Walla Walla scored twice in the second inning and kept the lid on Posse for the balance.

The low score went into the books despite 10 hits for the Bruins and seven hits for Posse. Mitch LaVielle pitched the whole game for Posse, walked just two Bruins and struck out four batters.

Layne Gingerich again led the Posse bats with two hits, and Zack Carpenter had a double for the big hit.

Sunday, Carson Coulter pitched the 4-0 three-hit shutout over Wilder to keep Posse in the action.

Posse scored one run in the first inning and three in the sixth. They tallied six hits for the win.

LaVielle, Oak Held and Gingerich each had a hit and an RBI.

In the tourney opener Saturday, Posse bowed 6-9 to Mount Vernon, a district champion from the northwest corner of the state. The opener turned out to be a hit derby with MV batters racking up 13 hits and Posse batters getting 12.

Posse had a 2-1 lead after three innings, but MV took the lead with four runs in the fourth and two more in the sixth. Posse charged for four runs in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to catch the NW champs.

Each team was booked for two errors.

Tyler Horner had three of the 12 Posse hits with a double, and Jackson Meyer had two hits with a double.

Asotin Blues, the other area contender in the Legion AA finals, at Yakima sustained a 0-3 defeat from the University Titans Sunday to be eliminated.

Asotin was hammered 11-3 by Kennewick in the first round Saturday.