Yakima claims Little League Junior state title

After four high-scoring routs, Yakima National proved it could come through in the clutch Friday.

And what a time to prove it.

Kyle Bohl’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Yakima National a 4-3 victory over Cascade of Vancouver in the Little League Junior state championship game at Parker Field.

Cascade intentionally walked Gavin Rodriguez to load the bases, and Bohl hit a sharp ground ball past the shortstop to score Kris Loyd with the winning run.

Trenton Dupre was the starting pitcher and he came back to close the seventh for the win. Lorenzo Mendoza and Loyd pitched the middle innings.

Josh Piper and Kurt Calhoun had two hits each, and Rodriguez had a double to help close out Yakima National’s first-ever state championship at this 13-14 age level.

The 12-player squad is now preparing to leave for the regional tournament in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Yakima National opens Tuesday at 1 p.m. against Billings, Mont.

Anyone interested in helping with the travel costs can make a donation to an account at the Yakima Valley Credit Union (P.O. Box 2992, 98907) or directly to Yakima National Little League (P.O. Box 9664, 98909).

Bears rally in bottom of ninth to stun AquaSox

Tim Sherlock seemed surprisingly composed, given the beating he had taken only minutes earlier.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced anything like this,” he said quietly. “It might have been back in Little League, in fact.”

Then, with a hint of a smile, Sherlock added, “But I like it.”

So did the vast majority of an announced 1,961, who Friday night witnessed Sherlock’s pinch-hit, two-run, walkoff single that lifted the Bears past Everett 4-3 at Yakima County Stadium.

Having rounded first base after smoking the first pitch from AquaSox closer Dan Cooper into the right-field corner, a blow that scored pinch-runner Zach Varnell from third and Gerson Montilla from second, Sherlock was mobbed by teammates in celebration of several accomplishments.

Yakima’s third straight win kept it unbeaten in the second half of the Northwest League season.

It also secured a series victory, with the finale to be played tonight, against an AquaSox team (24-17) that completed a five-game sweep of the Bears 23 days earlier in Everett.

And it provided Yakima (16-25) with only its fourth one-run win in 12 such games while improving the Bears to 13-9 at home.

“It helps keep things in perspective to think about the second half of the season,” said Sherlock, who was told by manager Bob Didier to get ready when the Sox summoned Cooper for the final out of the eighth.

To that point it appeared that Hawkins Gebbers would be the man of the hour, since the ex-Brewster Bear capped a 4-for-4 night with a two-out, two-strike, RBI single for a 3-2 Everett lead an inning earlier.

But Matt Davidson, who had taken two called third strikes and was 0-for-3 to that point, started the Bears ninth by punching a single to right. With the AquaSox corner infielders anticipating a bunt, Gerson Montilla pulled a base hit through the hole between third and shortstop, and the bases became loaded when Everett third sacker Juan Martinez knocked down but was unable to make a throw on Tyrell Worthington’s hot shot over the bag. It was Worthington’s third hit of the night.

Enter Sherlock, who was looking for a fastball.

“When we faced him at Everett, he threw a lot of them,” Sherlock said. “It all happened pretty fast.”

It also made a winner of Brian Budrow (1-2), who continued to establish himself as a late-inning, lock-down pitcher. Budrow had worked a perfect, two-strikeout ninth in relief of Rafael Quezada, Alex Thieroff and Brad Wilson.

Quezada, in his best start of the season, allowed only two runs over five innings. It’s true that he was reached for eight hits — including solo homers by Ryan Royster and Gerardo Avila, the seventh for each hitter — but most importantly he walked only one.

En route to an 0-4 record and 8.42 ERA coming in, the right-hander had issued 28 free passes, second-highest in the league.

“We gave up a bunch of hits and were probably lucky to get out of a couple of jams,” Didier said, “but our pitchers hung in there and kept it close.

“We have a couple of guys who are hitting up around .350 (Ryan Wheeler at 348 and Brent Greer at .345), we play good defense (second in the league in fielding percentage) and we’ve got three pitchers in Wilson, Budrow and (Randy) Hamrick who have become reliable late-inning guys. When we get good starting pitching, we can be a nice little club.”

Wheeler had followed Royster’s leadoff homer — his second such blast of the series — with first-inning triple high off the right-field wall, just left of the 293-foot sign. It scored Astolfo Inciarte and Dan Kaczrowski, both of whom had singled.

Yakima Bears update

Next game

Opponent: Everett AquaSox.

When, where: 7:05 p.m. today, Yakima County Stadium.

Radio: KUTI (1460).

Probable pitchers: Everett RHP Ryan Moorer (3-1, 3.05) vs. Yakima RHP Ben Dollar (0-1, 3.31).

Notes

GOOD NEWS PLUS GOOD NEWS: Not only was Bears pitcher Brad Gemberling pleased with Yakima’s 5-1 win over Everett on Thursday, and with the three scoreless innings he produced, he had more news to celebrate.

His dog, Moe, had suffered a stroke earlier this month, prompting Gemberling’s mother Kathy to cut short a visit here and return to Philadelphia.

“He’s doing great,” Gemberling said Thursday of Moe, who is 14 years old. “Even at his age, he’s doing great. I’ve spent more of my life with him (Gemberling, a June draftee from Princeton, is 22) than without him.”

STEP BY STEP: Evan Button’s comeback from an Achilles problem is moving along nicely after repeated delays.

The infielder from the University of Mississippi played three innings Wednesday night, took Thursday night off, then was scheduled for six innings or three at bats Friday night.

Button was none the worse for wear after being dumped near second base by a sliding baserunner who successfully interrupted Button’s bid to complete a double play.

— Roger Underwood

Box score

Bears 4, AquaSox 3

EVERETT                    YAKIMA

ab    r    h    bi        ab    r    h    bi

Royster lf    4    1    1    1    Inciarte lf    3    1    1    0

Billingsly ss    5    0    1    0    Kzrski ss-lf    4    1    1    0

Martinez 3b    4    0    1    0    Wheeler dh    3    0    1    2

Avila 1b    4    1    1    1    Conner 1b    3    0    0    0

Jones rf    4    1    1    0    Davidsn 3b    4    0    1    0

Fuentes dh    3    0    0    0    Button 2b    1    0    0    0

Coleman c    4    0    1    0    Montilla 2b    2    1    1    0

Gebbers 2b    4    0    4    1    Wrthgtn cf    4    0    3    0

Cerione cf    4    0    2    0    Aguila c    3    0    0    0

Greer ss    1    0    0    0

Varnell pr    0    1    0    0

Sherlck ph    1    0    1    2

Rodrgez rf    3    0    0    0

Totals    36    3    12    3    Totals    32    4    9    4

Everett    100    010    010    —    3

Yakima    200    000    002    —    4

E—Esquibel. DP—Yakima 1. LOB—Everett 9, Yakima 7. 2B—Worthington. 3B—Wheeler. HR—Royster (7), Avila (7). S—Fuentes. CS—Billingsley, Conner.

IP    H    R    ER    BB    SO

Everett

Esquibel    7    5    2    2    0    3

Rios    2-3    0    0    0    0    0

Cooper L,0-1    1-3    4    2    2    0    1

Yakima

Quezada     5    8    2    2    1    1

Thieroff    1    2    0    0    0    0

Wilson    2    2    1    1    0    2

Budrow W,1-2    1    0    0    0    0    2

WP—Cooper. HBP—Button (by Esquibel), Conner (by Esquibel), Wheeler (by Rios), Martinez (by Quezada). Umpires—Aaron Roberts, Matt Mullins. T—2:25. A—1,961.

Standings

East Division

W    L    Pct.    GB

Tri-City (Rockies)    24    17    .585    —

Boise (Cubs)    17    23    .425    61?2

Yakima (D-backs)    16    25    .390    8

Spokane (Rangers)    16    25    .390    8

West Division

W    L    Pct.    GB

Salem-Keizer (Giants)    30    11    .732    —

Everett (Mariners)    24    17    .585    6

Vancouver (Athletics)    18    22    .450    111?2

Eugene (Padres)    18    23    .439    12

Friday’s results

Spokane 9, Eugene 5

Yakima 4, Everett 3

Vancouver 8, Boise 3

Salem-Keizer 16, Tri-City 1

Today’s games

Vancouver at Boise, 6:15 p.m.

Eugene at Spokane, 6:30 p.m.

Everett at Yakima, 7:05 p.m.

Salem-Keizer at Tri-City, 7:15 p.m.

Sunday’s game

Vancouver at Boise, 12:15 p.m.

Local report — Wanderscheid second at Junior state golf

BELLEVUE — Zach Wanderscheid of Goldendale tied for second in the Boys 16-17 age division in the 33rd Washington Junior Golf Association state championships on Friday.

Wanderscheid, who tied for 20th in the same age group last year, closed with a round of 75 at Glendale Country Club for a 54-hole total of 217. He turned in the best round of the tournament with a 69 on Wednesday.

Michael Rutledge of Fall City shot 73 on Friday to move out of a 36-hole tie with Wanderscheid and win by two strokes.

Holden Backes of Yakima tied for ninth in the Boys 8-11 age group. He shot  92 on Friday for a 36-hole total of 174.

FASTPITCH

Harris slam lifts PP to victory

Bobby Harris’ grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning carried Peak Performance to an 8-5 victory over C.H. Robinson in ASA Adult League play Thursday at Kiwanis Park.

Casey Fiest homered and scored four runs to help the Aramark Monsters beat Kimmel’s Athletic 10-3 in the first game.

Kimmel’s Athletic        101    10    —    3    5    4

Aramark Monsters        203    41    —    10    5    0

George and Worell; McCauley, Root (5) and Berger.

Highlights: John Ripplinger (KA) HR, 2 runs; Chris George (KA) 9 K; Casey Fiest (AM) solo HR, 4 runs; Jason Schiebner (AM) 2-3, 3b, 3 RBI.

C.H. Robinson    210    001    1    —    5    11    3

Peak Performance    200    110    4    —    8    7    1

Seward and Hull; Fickle and Harris.

Highlights: Bradon Campbell (CH) 2-4, 2b, 3b, RBI; Skyler Trissel (PP) 2-4; Bobby Harris (PP) 2-4, GS.

MEETINGS

QB luncheon on Monday

The Yakima Monday Morning Quarterback Club will hold its monthly luncheon Monday at 11:30 a. m. at the Red Lion Yakima Center, 607 East Yakima Ave.  Lunch service will be available, and the public is invited.

So how’d you do on the wolf quiz?

YAKIMA, Wash. — Well, if you checked out our online “gray wolf or not” quiz that ran with our feature on Wolf Haven International, you had plenty of opportunities to get it right.

For one, if you read the story in the print edition, we had a similar quiz that ran with it, and we printed the answers on the jump page with that one.

Then we also had a similar quiz, using many of the same photographs, on the video feature on Wolf Haven that ran with the feature story in the online version, and we gave the answers on that one, too.

So let’s see how our quiz-takers collectively did.

The correct answers for the photos that were gray wolves, more or less synonymous with northern gray wolves, were numbers 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11. Hybrids — part dog, part wolf — were numbers 1, 4, 5 and 12. Then we had two sort of trick questions, because that’s just the kind of nefarious toads we are: Numbers 8 and 9 were Mexican gray wolves, which are smaller than the ones that you might see in the Pacific Northwest … but are, in fact, wolves. But not gray wolves.

So whether one gives oneself an “I’m right” on either of those two depends, I suppose, on one’s capacity for rationalization. (Or, if you knew at a glance that those two were Mexican gray wolves, I think the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife is probably in need of your services.)

The top six vote-getters as “real gray wolves” in the quiz, in descending order, were No. 3 (wolf), No. 4 (hybrid), No. 5 (hybrid), No. 11 (wolf), No. 10 (wolf) and No. 12 (hybrid). So readers were right half the time. The lowest vote-getter — the one most readers were sure was not a wolf — was, yes, a wolf.

There you have it: profoundly non-scientific proof that distinguishing between a real wolf and a faux wolf ain’t no easy thing.

But it does remind me of humorist James Thurber’s classic reworking of the Little Red Riding Hood tale, in which the wolf was laying in wait for the little girl bringing the basket of food for her grandmother.

Thurber’s climactic finish:

(The little girl) had approached no nearer than twenty-five feet from the bed when she saw that it was not her grandmother but the wolf, for even in a nightcap a wolf does not look any more like your grandmother than the Metro-Goldwyn lion looks like Calvin Coolidge. So the little girl took an automatic out of her basket and shot the wolf dead.

Moral: It is not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to be.

I’m not sure why I remembered that, but personally, I’m relatively positive I could tell the difference between the MGM lion and a wolf. Not so sure about Calvin Coolidge, though.

– Scott Sandsberry

Video: 1951 Seafair hydro races

For more, click here to visit the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum Web site.

Mariners deal Washburn to Detroit

ARLINGTON, Texas — A widely-anticipated trade of Mariners left-hander Jarrod Washburn was completed early this morning with Seattle landing a pair of pitching prospects from the Detroit Tigers.

The Mariners receive 6-foot-4, 220-pound left-hander Luke French, 23, who will join the big-league club immediately, and 20-year-old Class A left-hander Mauricio Robles. Washburn was expected to join his former Mariners teammates at Rangers Ballpark this afternoon and then head off to Detroit, where he’ll be the Tigers starter next Tuesday.

Washburn has enjoyed a career revival this season at age 34, but had only two months remaining on a four-year deal with the Mariners. As Seattle fell from serious playoff contention this week — dropping eight games back in the American League West and 6 ½ behind in the wild-card race — it became apparent the Mariners would try to move him for younger players.

“We had an opportunity to acquire two starting left-handed pitchers under the age of 23, including one with major-league experience,” Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said in a release. “As we continue to build the Mariners organization, it is crucial that we acquire depth and quality. This deal is another step in that process.”

The New York Yankees had also been pushing for a Washburn deal late Thursday night, but sources in Detroit said the inclusion of young fireballer Robles in the deal likely pushed the Tigers out front.

Signed three years ago at age 17, Robles pitched for his native Venezuela at the World Baseball Classic in March. He had 40 strikeouts in 35 innings of work for Class A Lakeland after an in-season promotion.

Before that, he had 71 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings in the lower-A level Midwest League.

The 5-foot-10, 160-pounder is said to have a fastball that reaches the mid-90s and an arm that is still developing.

French is expected to slot into the back of Seattle’s rotation.

He’d credited an improved slider for much of his development this season, in which he made his major-league debut with Detroit on May 15. He was 1-2 with a 3.38 earned-run average for the Tigers in seven outings, five of them starts.

French lasted 5 1/3 innings and gave up two runs in a 2-1 loss to Washburn and the Mariners last week in Detroit.

Today’s deal comes two days after the Mariners acquired pitcher Ian Snell, shortstop Jack Wilson and cash from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno and three low-level minor-league pitchers. The Washburn trade now increases the likelihood that Snell, currently in Class AAA, will be called up soon by the Mariners to complete a rotation that will likely see Garrett Olson demoted back to bullpen duty.

— Geoff Baker

Women’s outdoor skills workshop set

YAKIMA, Wash. — An annual weekend workshop for women on the basics of fishing, hunting and other outdoor skills will run Sept. 18-20 at Camp River Ranch in Carnation.

The workshop is put on by the non-profit Washington Outdoor Women, an educational outreach program of the Washington Wildlife Federation, and includes several sessions taught by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife experts. The 18 classes include such skills as archery, basic fishing, fly fishing and tying, kayaking, cooking wild game, big-game hunting basics, map and compass reading, wilderness first aid, survival skills, wildlife awareness and outdoor photography.

The workshop fee of $235 covers lodging, meals and all equipment. Participants must be at least 18 and have a current Washington fishing license to take part in the fishing sessions.

Workshop participants must be at least 18 years old and must have a current Washington recreational fishing license to participate in the fishing and fly-fishing sessions. For more information, go online to the Washington Outdoor Women site or call Ronni McGlenn at 425-455-1986.

– Scott Sandsberry

Lake Wenatchee sockeye fishery set

YAKIMA, Wash. — The ultra-popular Lake Wenatchee sockeye fishery will open one hour before sunrise on Wednesday, by which time the boat ramp at Lake Wenatchee State Park will be a mob scene of boating anglers from around the state.

It’ll be the second straight year sockeye fishery at the lake and only the sixth ever. More than 162,000 sockeye have moved through Rock Island Dam in East Wenatchee this year, better than twice the 10-year average of roughly 70,000. Roughly 30,000 of those are destined for Lake Wenatchee, where the water is much clearer than the Columbia River and the fish will be highly concentrated, making for optimum fishing conditions.

Regional fish program manager Jeff Korth said the escapement minimum for maintaining the lake’s spawning sockeye population is 23,000, and that probably somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 fish will have reached the lake by the end of this weekend.

“So we’re actually opening before we have escapement (minimum numbers) in there,” Korth said, “but we’re confident we’re going to get the escapement in there when it’s all said and done.

“I think we’re looking at a really good season. It’s exciting that we’re able to have this fishery two years in a row like this.”

Lake Wenatchee has had five previous sockeye fisheries, including the first in 1984, but before last year hadn’t had one since 2004.

On Wednesday, the lake surface will likely be filled with more than 200 boats, since bank fishing isn’t very fruitful for sockeye, which prefer cold, deep water – and Lake Wenatchee is deeper than 200 feet in places.

Single-point barbless hooks are required (no more than three), with no bait or scent for the fishery, which runs from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. Sockeye with one or more round holes punched in the caudal (tail) fin must be released, as those fish were anesthetized as part of a study and the FDA requires a 21-day ban on consumption of those fish.

– Scott Sandsberry

Bears silence Everett bats

Yakima pitchers allow one run on four hits ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — Nothing new, regarding the foundation of winning baseball, was said in the Bears’ clubhouse Thursday night.

But given Yakima’s struggles through the first half of its Northwest League season and an encouraging start to its second, there were in fact some different comments.

“We’re not going to shut everybody out,” Brad Gemberling said, for example, “but if you throw strikes, good things happen.”

The Bears, who led the league in walks coming into the game, threw plenty of strikes against Everett, which led the league in hitting. So it was hardly coincidental that what was thought to be Yakima’s first walk-less performance of the year was a conspicuous part of its 5-1 triumph before an announced 1,692 at Yakima County Stadium.

“The starting pitcher sets the tone,” Gemberling said in reference to Dan Taylor, whose five three-hit innings began the Bears’ second straight defeat of the AquaSox after six successive losses to them.

After winning only 13 times in the 38-game first half of its schedule, Yakima is 2-0 since.

“Brad did a great job,” said Taylor of Gemberling, whose three one-hit frames preceded Randy Hamrick’s perfect ninth. “He pounded the strike zone, and that’s exactly what we needed.”

Along with another two-hit game from Brent Greer, whose batting average rose to .348, and a triple and RBI from Ryan Wheeler, whose average sat one point higher.

Clayton Conner, the league leader in runs batted in, increased his total to 33 by being hit with a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth.

But back to pitching.

Only once previously had Yakima (15-25) allowed just one run, and that was in a 1-0, 10-inning loss at Spokane on June 21. And never this season had the Bears surrendered as few as four hits.

“The pitching coach was pretty good tonight,” Yakima manager Bob Didier said of Gil Heredia, continuing the props-all-around theme. “That’s the best hitting team in the league over there.”

The left-handed Taylor has improved since becoming a starter last Sunday, when he allowed two runs over three innings while striking out five at Salem-Keizer.

“I feel more comfortable starting,” he said. “I like dictate the tempo of the game. They’re so aggressive as a team, you just have to go at them.”

After Taylor stuck out four, right-hander Gemberling came on to fan five, with catcher Tyson Van Winkle digging the ball out of the dirt on four of those occasions to make the putout.

“We spent a little time with Gil the other day talking about their hitters and their tendencies,” Gemberling said. “He talked about expanding the zone with two strikes, so when I got two on a hitter I threw my slider to see if they’d chase it.

“And it helped me, being a right-hander, coming in after a lefty.”

Yakima gained the upper hand early, scoring a run in the second inning and adding two in the third.

Conner’s single and Van Winkle’s two-out, run-scoring double produced the first score. It was Van Winkle’s first game back with the Bears after a brief trip to South Bend.

Gerson Montilla’s leadoff triple, a walk to Astolfo Inciarte, Greer’s RBI groundout and Wheeler’s three-bagger off the wall in right-center plated the next two.

The AquaSox (24-16) got their lone run in the fifth when Jose Rivero singled and Brandon Bantz doubled to start the inning, after which Rivero scored on Deybis Benitez’s groundout.

Afterward, however, Everett managed just one more hit — a two-out double in the sixth — and saw its last 10 hitters retired.

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