Lacelle, Martin lead Walleyes at Bear Bash

SPOKANE — The Moses Lake Walleyes Junior American Legion baseball team received tremendous all-around performances in finishing second at the Bear Bash Tournament last week.

In their tournament opener, the Walleyes trailed East Valley-Spokane 8-7 going to their final at-bat. The Walleyes rallied for two runs and the win, 9-8, one of the highlights of the tournament in head coach Ed McNamara's eyes.

The comeback ignited a three-game tear in which the Walleyes outscored their opponents 40-11 and twice enacted the eight-run mercy rule. They shut out Lewis and Clark 8-0 and tore through a pair of Idaho foes, Coeur d'Alene and Lewiston, by respective scores of 17-5 and 15-6.

Moses Lake catcher Jacob Lacelle, who batted .500 during the tournament with three home runs and eight runs batted in, hit a walk-off grand slam in the win over Lewiston. Lacelle also scored eight runs and doubled twice, giving him a slugging percentage of 1.285.

The Walleyes took on Lewiston again in the semifinals and got a great performance from pitcher Drew Martin in a 3-2 win. Martin held Lewiston to three hits and struck out eight in a complete-game effort.

"It was his best outing of the year," McNamara said of Martin.

Martin picked up a pair of wins at the Bear Bash, allowing two earned runs in 10 2/3 innings. He struck out 12 and walked only two.

The two wins over Lewiston moved the Walleyes into the championship game, where they lost 8-3 to the Kennewick Dusters. Moses Lake managed just six hits and committed four errors in defeat.

"We just didn't make the plays in the championship game," McNamara said.

The Walleyes hit .403 as a team and had a slugging percentage of .602, scoring 54 runs and piling up 67 hits during the six-game tournament. Regular starters Blaine Myers, Brock Lybbert and Martin all hit .500 or better.

"They just hit the heck out of the ball," McNamara said.

Moses Lake returns to the diamond Thursday, traveling to Hermiston, Ore., for a weekend-long tournament. The Walleyes return home next Tuesday, July 3, against Richland for a doubleheader at Larson Field. Game time has yet to be announced.