Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Opening the 1B baseball playoffs against Selkirk Tuesday morning, Garfield/Palouse led 2-0 in the fifth inning when Selkirk tied the game on a fly-ball error to centerfield.
In the bottom of the sixth, Gar/Pal loaded the bases with one out but could not score.
In the seventh, Selkirk’s leadoff hitter hit a single and stole second. After two pop-outs, a base hit put the Rangers up 3-2.
Gar/Pal had one more chance in the bottom of the seventh.
Senior Seth Thompson took first base on an error and ran to second on a passed ball.
With one out, Evan Weagraff, another senior, fouled off a series of pitches but struck out. Two outs, and sophomore Blake Jones came to the plate, fouled more off but also could not put one in play, striking out to end the game.
“We were a couple inches short of pushing a couple runs across,” said Vikings coach Mike Jones.
Selkirk totaled six hits for the game while Gar/Pal had three, including a two-RBI double by Riley Pederson in the first inning which drove in Weagraff and Thompson. Weagraff was hit by a pitch to take a base and Thompson got on with a base hit.
On the mound for Gar/Pal, Weagraff threw six innings with 10 strikeouts, allowing four hits and two walks with two unearned runs. After he reached 100 pitches, Jones came in for the seventh inning, allowing two hits and one earned run.
The Vikings, which had just the two seniors, finished the season with an 8-9 overall record, 6-6 in league.
“It was a good showing,” said Coach Jones. “We competed. We battled. We just didn’t get a couple hits at the right time in this last game.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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