Free-swinging Selah drubs East Valley

SELAH, Wash. — With all due respect to Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra or whoever first said, “Half this game is 90 percent mental,” Mike Archer would like to add an asterisk.

Teammates congratulate Tanner Fife after he scored a run against East Valley on Tuesday, April 19, 2011. (SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Sure, the veteran Selah coach would emphasize, thinking is crucial to winning baseball. But when done to excess, he would hasten to stress that it can simply get in the way.

“We’ve always worked a lot on hitting the ball the other way or taking it up the middle,” Archer said Tuesday, after his second-ranked Vikings had battered East Valley 14-4 in a five-inning battle of CWAC unbeatens at Carlon Park. “But we reached a point this season where we realized we were thinking too much at the plate, and were limiting some of our kids. Since then we’ve just basically told ’em to swing from their heels.”

Or as Kyle Fickes would say, “Grip it and rip it — every day.”

Selah (13-0 CWAC, 15-0 overall) scored in each inning, including a six-run second frame, pounding out 12 hits en route to assuming sole possession of first place.

After the Viks visit Prosser and No. 4 East Valley (12-1, 12-3) hosts Wapato for doubleheaders on Saturday, Selah and the Red Devils will meet again next Tuesday for a single game at EV.

Perhaps a prime example of the Vikings’ free-swinging philosophy occurred in the aforementioned second inning, when with two out and the bases loaded, Jake Monson was badly fooled on a first-pitch breaking ball from Jonathan Janis.

East Valley pitcher Jonathan Janis throws against Selah during their game, played in Selah on Tuesday, April 19, 2011. (SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic)

On the very next offering, however, the sturdily-built Monson crushed a double off the left-field wall to score all three runners.

“That’s the whole deal,” Archer shrugged. “Look silly on a pitch, don’t let it bother you. Stand in there and take a good cut at the next one.”

The bottom portion of Selah’s lineup got plenty of productive hacks, with the fifth through ninth hitters going a combined 11 for 15 with a double, two triples, a homer and 10 RBI.

No. 8 hitter Garrett Fife was 3 for 3 with a triple, an RBI and three runs scored while Fickes, from the No. 9 hole, tripled and hit the first inside-the-park home run of his life.

“We’ve been swinging better lately,” said the senior left-hander, who struck out eight and walked three in a complete-game mound performance. He also implied that stamina he’d gained while earning second-team all-CWAC honors in basketball helped on his round-tripper.

“When I got waved around third,” he said after his sinking liner bounced over a diving EV center fielder’s head, “I put it in another gear.”

East Valley, too, got in some licks. Jonathan Janis was 3 for 3 with a double and solo homer while Kris Janis also was 3 for 3.

But coach Jesse Benedetti was otherwise displeased.

“I was happy with how we hit the ball — we stung it, actually,” he said. “But we were out of position of some plays and made some poor judgments, and we didn’t respond when we were faced with adversity. And the kids have to decide that, not the coaches.”

East Valley 010 21 — 4 9 3

Selah 162 32 — 14 12 2

J. Janis and Cruse; K. Fickes and Cavanaugh.

Highlights: Tony Sainz (EV) 1-3, RBI; Jonathan Janis (EV) 3-3, 2b, HR, RBI; Kris Janis (EV) 3-3, RBI; Kurt Lindemann (S) 1-3, 2 RBI; Andrew Gonzalez (S) 2-3, RBI; Jake Monson (S) 2-3, 2b, 3 RBI; Andrew Cavanaugh (S) 2-3, 2 RBI; Garrett Fife (S) 3-3, 3b, RBI, 3 runs; Kyle Fickes (S) 2-3, 3b, HR, 3 RBI.