Patriots launch 5-day series run

Pullman Patriots Wednesday started play in a five-day edition of the Palouse Summer Series at Colfax. The series will feature 24 teams which will compete in four divisions. Winners of each division will be in the final rounds Sunday for the championship.

The Patriots are booked for a series game today, Thursday, at WSU’s Bailey-Brayton Field, and Friday at 9 a.m. at Lewis-Clark State College. Saturday, they will play at Pullman High at 11 a.m. and then return to Colfax at 6 p.m.

After again advancing to the semi-finals in tournament play at Ephrata, the Pats returned to league play Monday for a two-game sweep over the Blue Devils in Spokane. The sweep left the Patriots with a 9-6 record in the Spokane senior Legion league.

Overall record, after a rainout Tuesday, is now 21-9.

Scores Monday for the wins over the Blue Devils in Spokane were 11-8 in the opener and 15-5 in the closer.

In the first game the Patriots trailed 1-7 after four innings, but they roared back to score four in the fifth and six more in the sixth. The scoring came off 12 hits.

Justin Cillay started on the mound for the Pats, and DePaul Blunt relieved him in the fourth and shut down most of the Blue Devils offense. Blunt also had two RBI hits in both of the rally innings for the locals.

Jeremy Druffel led the offense with three hits, including a pair of doubles.

Asotin’s Dusty Lyons pitched the 15-5 win in the second game. He allowed nine hits, but the Pats batters countered that with 18 raps. They had a slim 5-4 lead after the first three frames and dropped the hammer with six runs in the fifth. Jackson Webb had three hits with a double. Blunt also had three hits.

At Ephrata Sunday, the Patriots were stopped by Walla Walla 3-2 in the semi round of the High Desert baseball classic. Most of the game credits went to Walla Walla hurler Drew Christian who shut down the Pullman bats over the first six innings.

The Pats rallied for two runs in the seventh to tie it up, but WW scored the decider in the bottom of the inning to advance to the

Ephrata title game.

Pullman pitcher Matt Peterson allowed six hits. Colton’s Bricyn Abdul had the lone hit for the Patriots.

Pullman went into the semi round after posting a 3-1 mark in the first two days of the classic. They booked a split in two five-inning games Saturday after posting two wins in the first rounds Friday.

Saturday’s win was a 15-6 decision over Bothell capped by an eight-run explosion by the locals in the fifth to shut it down on the eight-run rule. Hunter Redinger was credited with starting the big rally.

Cillay finished with three hits, and Jeremy Druffel and Blunt each had two hits.

First loss in the Ephrata entry was a 3-11 bow to a Seattle team that stacked 10 hits against Brennan Ball and Redinger.

Druffel had three of the five Pullman hits with a triple and two doubles.

Pullman opened at Ephrata with wins over Anderson Hay of Ellesnburg and Kent.

They won the opener 4-2 after the AH team rallied in the sixth and out-hit the Patriots. 6-4. Jackson Webb had the start and allowed six hits, and Abdul relieved him in the seventh to shut off the AH bats.

Druffel homered and Abdul doubled for two of the Patriots’ four hits.

Against Kent, the Pats posted a 6-3 win with a three-run start in the first frame and a three-run finish in the seventh. They totaled 10 hits with Druffel tagging three, including a homer.

Webb and Peterson each had two hits with a double.