River Dogs drench Heat

Through the drizzle and rain, the River Dogs withstood the Heat.

Spokane scored first in Thursdays baseball game at Larson Field, but a four-run fifth inning capped a 6-4 win for Columbia Basin. River Dog coach Bob Duda said Columbia Basin did what it needed to do to win: "Come through and making plays."

"This team, every player can play and start and as a coaching staff, we have to make those tough decisions of who is going to start," Duda added. "Everybody had their opportunity chances and took advantage of them."

Spokane Heat coach Drew Brooks said he came with a young lineup with some missing key players at the start of the season. Brooks added that the team had only been together for three days and proved to be a factor in the game against Columbia Basin.

"Tonight we have a very young club with sophomores and juniors and I am just starting to learn all their names," Brooks said. "These kids are athletic, they know how to get around the park, they just need to get used to each other and hitting behind each other."

Sonny Garza squared off against the Heats' Matt Oye on the mound with both pitchers battling the rain. Garza got tacked early on the mound in the second inning, but held Spokane scoreless through the next three innings.

Garza pitched seven innings, allowing all four runs on 10 hits in the contest, while Oye was held to 4 1/3 innings after giving up six runs. It was Oye's first outing since high school baseball three weeks ago.

"He got left out there," Brooks said. "He was on a pitch count and is on the Washington State All Star team and was limited to the pitch count."

Darryl Mackin opened the first inning with an opposite field single, but Garza got Jye Lamphere to hit into a 6-4-3 double play and Logan Wadsworth to ground out to Josh Walker at third base.

Oye's start on the mound included six straight retired batters before giving up a single in the third inning to Severo Rodriguez. After a sacrifice bunt by Hawkins Gebbers, Cody Hebdon tied the game at 1-1 with a single to right field, scoring Rodriguez from second.

Hebdon later scored on a throwing error by Spokane's first baseman Jake Haux to give the River Dogs a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, the River Dogs got some help from Mother Nature as the rain picked up and cooled off the Heats' pitcher. Camron Iverson and Garza both exploited Oye for four runs, putting Columbia Basin into a 6-1 lead.

Spokane's Anthony Jones came in to pitch the Heat out of the fifth inning jam, forcing Chad Hunter into the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Jones allowed three hits over the final three innings.

Wadsworth breathed life back into the Spokane bench, leading off the sixth inning with a triple and later scoring on Oye's base hit to right field. The Heat followed up with two more runs in the seventh, closing the River Dog lead to 6-4.

"What you saw when we made our rally was the more experienced kids who were a little bigger and a little more mature," Brooks said.

Hunter pitched the final two innings for Columbia Basin to pick up the save. Both teams will meet again on Friday at the Mid-Season Classic Tournament at Washington State University. Brooks promised the River Dogs would see a different team.

"When we come down there Friday night, they will see a bigger line up who can hit the ball a little harder," Brooks said.