Patriots’ bats hit high gear before return to league play

Brady Mooney slides into the plate last Thursday for the lone score for the Pullman Patriots Senior Legion game in their debut under the new field lights at McDonald Park. Bellevue Legion catcher Brent Berkey attempts to make the stop. Mooney booked the lone score for the Patriots in the Palouse Summer Series game. Bellevue posted a 10-1 win to shut the game down on the 8-run rule after five innings, almost before the new field lights were actually needed.

Pullman Patriots’ bats, which cranked up in the weekend Summer series, ignited again Monday when they pegged 13 hits and defeated the Spokane Blue Devils 8-4 in a return to league play. The win put the Pats at 5-6 in the league before they rolled to Spokane Wednesday for two games against the Cannons.

Monday, the Pats went up against a Blue Devils team which went all the way to the title game of the Palouse Summer Series over the weekend at Pullman and Colfax. The Devils lost 12-6 in the series title game to Combat, a team from Olympia and Lacey.

Monday at Pullman, the Pats stacked a 4-0 lead after two innings and added two each in the last two innings. Jackson Webb started for the Patriots and Dustin Huber took the mound in the fourth. The Devils booked seven hits.

JJ Robinson and Brandon Hoadley had three hits each for the Patriots. Nick Scoury paired triples, and Brett Druffel paired doubles.

Saturday, Brandon Hoadley threw a no-hitter at the Belgrade Bandits in the series. Hoadley fanned nine and walked just one.

The Patriots offense came up with 10 hits to book the 9-1 win. Robinson had three hits with a pair of doubles, Chase Druffel and Zack Young each added a double.

Friday, the Patriots rolled out a 9-6 win over the Washington Brewers with seven runs in the fifth erasing an early 4-0 Brewers lead. The Pats scored two more in the sixth.

The Patriots had 12 hits with Hoadley tagging three and Joe Johnson and Robinson each rapping two. Young and Brady Mooney tripled.

The Patriots Thursday at Colfax were defeated by Bellevue Legion 10-1 in the first game with local players under the lights at McDonald Field. Bellevue scored six runs over the first two innings and added four more in the top of the fifth to exceed the eight-run rule and shut the game down after five frames.

Brian Mooney doubled and scored in the third inning for the lone Patriot run. Brett Druffel pitched the first four innings and Curt Peterson relieved him in the fifth. Walks took a toll for the Pats with Druffel giving up three in the first inning, and Peterson giving up four.