Bears secure postseason berth

PASCO, Wash. — For the first time since 2000, the Yakima Bears are heading to the Northwest League playoffs.

Yakima’s 4-3 victory over Tri-City and Spokane’s 5-4 win over Boise on Sunday eliminates the Hawks from postseason contention and means the Bears will face the Indians in the Eastern Division championship series.

As has been the case for much of the season, Yakima’s bullpen led the way on Sunday night.

Corey Davisson

(3-1) and Jake Hale worked four innings of relief for the win and save respectively. They combined to allow one hit and strike out nine.

Six of the strikeouts belonged to Hale, who — along with earning his fourth save — lowered his earned-run average to 0.25.

Yakima opened the scoring in the first inning when Michael Freeman scored on Henry Zabala’s groundout.

Tri-City took the lead in the bottom of the inning when Nathan Hines and Jeremiah Sammy scored on Dominic Altobelli’s double.

Yakima tied the game in the third when Freeman scored on Zach Walters’ groundout.

Both teams scored in their halves of the fifth inning, Yakima on a wild pitch by T-C starter Josh Hungerman, and the Dust Devils on a Bryce Massanari groundout.

Yakima took the lead for good in the seventh when Michael Weber scored on Freeman’s single off of Tri-City’s Sean Jarrett (1-1).

Hale struck out six of the seven batters he faced, allowing only a ninth-inning hit to Joshua Powers.

The victory was the Bears’ 38th of the season, assuring them of their first non-losing season since 2003.

Yakima holds a two-game advantage over Spokane with seven games to play in the second half. However, because the Indians won the first-half title, they are ineligible to win the second half.

Boise’s loss to Spokane was its 39th of the season, which means the Hawks will not be able to catch Yakima in the overall season standings. The Northwest League uses overall record as its first tie-breaker if the first-half champion also has the best second-half record.

• Click here for the Northwest League’s playoff procedures.