Spuds 2-2; Riverdogs drop doubleheader in weekend summer baseball play
MOSES LAKE — The Central Washington Spuds picked up a pair of wins over St. Maries last weekend as the two squads matched up for the fifth and sixth times this summer. The Spuds took a 14-8 win to open up the doubleheader on Saturday.
A late six-run spurt from St. Maries in the bottom of the fifth pulled them within two at 8-6, but the comeback stopped there as the Spuds closed out the win with five runs in the top of the seventh.
Zach Valdez finished 4-5 from the plate with a team-high four RBIs in the win, including a homer in the first. Three other Spuds players finished with multiple hits. Kamden Kuykendall was on the mound most of the way, tossing five innings with 11 strikeouts. Kuykendall surrendered seven runs on seven hits.
The Spuds kept the runs coming during their 17-6 win to cap off the day on Saturday. Down 1-0 after three innings, the Spuds poured in 10 runs in the fourth inning to take a big lead. Seven more runs over the next two innings sealed the win. Valdez finished with four RBIs for the second game in a row, joined by Evan McLean who finished with four as well.
The high-scoring offense from Saturday wasn’t there for the Spuds on Monday, with Central Washington dropping a doubleheader to the CDA Lumbermen. The Spuds fell 3-2 in the opening matchup, with the Lumbermen sealing the win with a run in the bottom of the seventh. Valdez finished 2-3 from the plate. The Lumbermen took another close game to finish up the series on Monday, 2-1. The Spuds scored a run in the top of the seventh to cut into the deficit, but couldn’t secure the comeback despite outhitting their opponents 6-3. McLean tossed 13 strikeouts over six innings from the mound, surrendering two runs off three hits.
The Columbia Basin Riverdogs fell in both games against RSP Baseball on Saturday afternoon in Richland. The Riverdogs failed to find the board in their opening matchup on Saturday, falling 10-0 in the five-inning game.
Down 2-0 after the first, RSP managed to notch multiple runs in the bottom of the final three innings to pull away in the win. The Riverdogs were outhit 9-1, with four errors in the field as well.
Avery Passey picked up the sole hit for the Columbia Basin squad on Saturday with a single in the second inning, finishing 1-2 from the plate.
The Riverdogs managed to hang with RSP Baseball in the second game of the day, before their opponent was able to pull away late for the 12-7 win. After RSP took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, both teams traded runs back and forth for the next few innings.
Down 8-7 going into the bottom of the fourth, a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning and three more in the fifth helped RSP pull away for the win. Five players picked up hits for the Riverdogs in the defeat, with Passey leading the team with a pair of RBIs.