by Staff Report
SELAH — Burlington’s road to the American Legion AA State Tournament baseball title got a little rocky Monday after the Sox got blasted by River Ridge 15-5 in a battle between the two remaining undefeated teams in the Selah half of the bracket.
The Sox now have to win three straight over the next two days to reach the championship game. The road begins with a game at 1 p.m. today against Central Valley.
“We’re going to try to put it behind us and try to win one tomorrow,” Sox coach John Thurmond said. “They (River Ridge) were good tonight and we weren’t.”
Burlington led 2-0 early, but River Ridge put together nine runs over the second and third innings to take control. The Sox never again got closer than four runs.
“We didn’t make plays, bottom line,” Thurmond said. “We didn’t really give our pitchers a chance. Troy O’Neill started out pretty good, but they strung together a few hits. We had chances to get out of the (third) inning and kicked a couple balls.”
Zach Livingston had a two-run double for the Sox. Chris Vivanco and Quinn Holt each had two hits.
“We had tons of opportunities,” Thurmond said. “Every inning we were a hit away from being right back in it.”
Kennewick Dusters 17
Stanwood Cannons 7
KENNEWICK — A disastrous bottom of the third inning did in the Cannons, eliminating them from the tournament.
After scoring five runs in the top half of the frame to take a 6-0 lead, Stanwood allowed 10 in the bottom half and never regained its footing. Errors and a bad-hop grounder contributed to the rally. Kennewick scored the final eight with two out.
“I saw about everything that could go wrong did,” Stanwood coach Tony Wolden said. “Our defense allowed them to score too many runs. We just couldn’t stop the bleeding.”
Brandon Thomas finished off a strong tournament by going 3-for-4 with a run scored and three runs batted in. In three games, Thomas went 7-for-12 with five runs scored and three RBI.
Stanwood, the Division I champion, finished the summer 31-14.
“We played a lot of non-league games against older teams to try to push our guys, to play against some tough competition,” Wolden said. “This group, coming back next year, has shown they can play together. This is a good building block for next spring. These guys have played well. We didn’t end up where we wanted here, but all in all it was a successful season.”
State A Tournament
Moses Lake 11
Burlington Sox 4
SPOKANE — Moses Lake scored five runs in the sixth inning to break open a close game, eliminating Burlington from the tournament.
Jake Steiner, Brandon Jenkins and David Erickson each had two hits. Steiner doubled twice, scored one and drove in one, and Jenkins drove in a run. Kyle Tolf scored two and drove in a run for the Sox.
“It was not our best baseball,” Sox coach Herb Lehman said. “They are a very good, aggressive team, so you have to make plays. We made most of them, but we didn’t make a couple.”
Burlington finishes the summer 30-12.
“It was a great experience for them,” Lehman said of his players. “They’re guys who hadn’t been playing together a lot. For them to come together and play the way they did, I’m proud of them for that.”
