Desert Dogs can't close out Calgary

MOSES LAKE — Spectators at Wednesday's opening game of the 16-year-old Babe Ruth Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament got two games for the price of one.

Not literally. It just seemed that way after the Columbia Basin Desert Dogs dominated the first four innings of their game with the Calgary Reds, then watched helplessly as the Reds exploded for 11 runs in their final two at-bats for an 11-7 victory at Larson Field.

Calgary hadn't touched Desert Dog starter Isaiah Suarez through four innings, but a bunt base hit from Eric Fitzsimmons to start the fifth started the Reds' huge rally from a 6-0 deficit.

Quinton Bennett's one-out double scored Fitzsimmons for Calgary's first run. Daniel Weber relieved Suarez with the bases loaded, but Tyler Warner promptly greeted him with a three-run triple to the wall in left field. Colin Toews had an RBI single to cap the Reds' five-run fifth.

"They hadn't hit anything deep the whole game," Columbia Basin head coach Chuck Hansen said. "Then they get those two deep hits, then they got a couple, what I call dinker-doo hits. That's what it takes to keep a rally going and they did that."

A Calgary error and singles from Weber and Ric Garza loaded the bases for the Dogs in the sixth. Ishmael Fuentes delivered a sacrifice fly, putting Columbia Basin's lead at 7-5 with six outs to go.

But the momentum had clearly shifted and Calgary's bats didn't cool down. Mark Posten's RBI single brought the Reds within one, and Michael Lenz bowled over Desert Dog catcher Patrick Phillips at the plate on a double steal to tie it.

Unlike some other youth leagues, that's a legal play in Babe Ruth baseball.

Calgary tried the double steal two batters later, and took the lead when Bennett knocked the ball out of Phillips' glove. A pair of run-scoring singles and an error all but deflated whatever comeback hopes Columbia Basin harbored.

"They kind of looked like they got a little lackadaisical there," Hansen said of his team's play in the latter innings. "That's baseball — that's the way things go sometimes."

Behind four no-hit innings from Suarez, the Desert Dogs appeared to have a solid grip on the victory. Calgary's starter, Jordan Forget, lost his control in the third inning and the Dogs made him pay.

Two hit batters and a walk loaded the bases, and Garza got a free pass for the game's first run. Zach Childs brought in a run with a solid single to left, and sacrifice flies from Fuentes and Juan Garcia put Basin up 4-0.

Reds' reliever Cory Hicks was just as wild an inning later, walking Phillips and Suarez with one out. An error loaded the bases, and Hicks plunked Garza to bring in Basin's fifth run. A Fuentes groundout plated Suarez for a 6-0 lead.

Suarez lasted 4 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs on three hits, three walks and one hit batter. He struck out three.

"I think he got a little tired," Hansen said of Suarez. "He said he was OK. Usually when a pitcher starts throwing balls and walking guys a lot out there after five innings, he's getting tired, so I pulled him."

Despite all the damage the Desert Dogs did, they managed just four hits off four Calgary pitchers. That's something Hansen wants to shore up as the team wraps up pool play Thursday and Friday.

"You gotta swing your bat in any game you're in," he said. "We left quite a few guys on base and we should've scored some more guys."

Basin struggled in Wednesday's third game, losing 14-2 to the Puyallup Avalanche, who finished 2-0 on the tourney's first day.

Puyallup scored three times in the third and five times in the fifth to take a 9-2 lead. Four runs in the seventh iced the result.

The Desert Dogs managed seven hits in defeat, including a Conor Hamilton double. Singles came from Phillips, Mark Garza, Ric Garza, Weber, Suarez and Colton Roy.

Puyallup 10, North Kitsap 0

Wednesday's second game turned into a rout for the Avalanche as they blew out North Kitsap in six innings. Puyallup scored in all but one frame, scoring four times in the fourth to break open a 3-0 game.

Brooks Ray led the Avalanche offense, going 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Kyle Font, Bryan Sandstrom and Greg Ball each scored two runs for Puyallup as well.