Hereford’s blast advances Spartans to regionals

Left: Liberty Christian Catcher Corbin Steele shows his mitt and the ball to the umpire Saturday for confirmation after a collision at the plate.

Spartan runner Lance Lindgren waits for the verdict on the other side of the plate.

The crash was one of three at the plate in the last playoff game at McDonald Park.

Tekoa/Oakesdale/Rosalia advanced to the regional round after edging LC in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Middle: Coach Rob Hudkins escorts Jared Hereford off the field after the Spartan catcher came up with the key hit.

Right: Will Dedic battled through seven innings to take the win which kept TOR in playoff action Saturday at Colfax.

Both pitchers also battled wind and dust conditions.

Tekoa/Oakesdale/Rosalia Spartans pegged a dramatic finish on a wind-blown McDonald Field in Colfax Saturday to bag the number-two SE district ticket to this weekend’s state regional round.

The Spartans are slotted into the 1 p.m.

game for the regional round at Shadle Park.

They will face the top District 7 qualifier, a slot Colfax targeted before they headed for the delayed district round Wednesday at Avista.

The Spartans, who have seven seniors in the lineup, roll to district with a 19-3 record.

All three loses have been to the DeSales Irish, a team which edged TOR 10-7 in the middle game of the Colfax playoffs Saturday to take the top SE slot.

Jared Hereford rapped a one-out shot to centerfield in the bottom of the seventh inning last Saturday to score the winning run in the last-chance qualification battle with Liberty Christian.

The RBI hit broke a 5-5 tie which the Patriots had pegged with a three-run rally in the top of the innings.

DJ Brown started the seventh with a single to right field.

Brown advanced to third base and scored the tie-breaking run on Hereford’s big hit.

Will Dedic pitched the win despite allowing the Patriots l4 hits.

Part of the LC offense was offset by four errors.

Ethan DeFault started for the Patriots and was relieved by Jake Siefken in the seventh inning.

Siefkin was credited with the loss.

TOR totaled 11 hits and had a 5-2 lead going into the top of the seventh when the Patriots scored their three runs to tie it up a 5-5.

The rally ended when Tom Carothers reeled in a fly launched by Corbin Steele for the third out.

In their first game Saturday, the Spartans broke a 4-0 lead in the first inning against top-seeded DeSales but the Irish came back with eight runs in the second inning to take control.

Irish pitcher Vickor Matta settled down after the first inning, and the Spartans didn’t get to him until the top of the seventh when they scored three runs.

Matta managed to stop the charge and take the 10-7 win which sent the Irish back to Walla Walla with the top SE seed.

Flash Hodges took the loss for the Sparts.

He allowed 10 hits.

Dedic led the TOR bats with two doubles.

Lance Lindgren also doubled.

The Spartans had four errors against the SE league champions.

Playoff action at Colfax started with a 3-2 elimination win by the Patriots over the Asotin Panthers.

Asotin pitcher Dusty Lyons threw a one-hitter at the Patriots, but the one hit took its toll and four Asotin errors netted unearned runs for the Patriots.

Taylor Lindquist, who was also relieved by Siefkin, pitched the LC win.

He allowed six hits.

Jackson Webb and Clay Debord tagged triples to lead Asotin’s six-hit offense.

Asotin’s season finished at 15-7.

The Panthers and Patriots advanced to Colfax after defeating Dayton and Waitsburg Prescott in the first round of the SE district action last Tuesday.