Single in 7th lifts Wyoming champs over Blue Devils

Crisp, fundamental baseball it wasn’t in the nightcap of the Northwest Regional American Legion tournament.

Wyoming state champ Cheyenne Post 6 found a way to outlast the Spokane Blue Devils, 5-4, as the first day ended late on a sticky Thursday evening at Gonzaga University’s Washington Trust Field before an estimated crowd of 600.

Cheyenne scored the eventual winning run in the seventh inning when Zach Lain fisted a pitch over drawn-in first baseman Brendan Herzer, scoring Colby Harrison from third who had reached on the 10th walk by starter Kasey Sargent.

Post 6 (64-10) advances to the quarterfinals where it will face Kelso (31-14) tonight at about 8.

Spokane (34-22) meets Montana state champ Missoula (64-10) in a loser-out game this afternoon at about 1.

The Roseburg (Ore.) Docs weren’t trying to make a statement. But it sure looked like it.

Roseburg took advantage of shaky Wausau (Wis.) pitching, blanking the Bulldogs 14-0 in a run-rule shortened seven innings.

The Docs (29-13) meet the Idaho state champ, the Boise Gems (29-12), this afternoon at 4:30 in the first of two quarterfinal games. Wausau (30-18) takes on Dimond of Anchorage, Alaska, in loser-out play at 9:30 a.m.

The pitching in all four games, to be brutally frank, left much to be desired.

The regional champ advances to the World Series, Aug. 13-17 at Avista Stadium.

Cheyenne 5, Spokane 4: The Blue Devils took a 4-2 lead in the top of the sixth with two runs.

Seth Wolfe scored on a wild pitch after walking, stealing second and advancing to third on a throwing error by the pitcher. Then Tyler Pfeffer had a two-out, run-scoring single.

In the bottom of the inning, though, Cheyenne tied it at 4-4 when Jordan Mossey belted a 2-0 fastball over the left-field fence.

Spokane coach Tony Byrne was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing with the plate umpire over a called third strike that ended the inning.

Taylor Hustad was at the plate when the confusion ensued. None of the players knew if he had swung at an inside pitch with a runner at second. The three umpires had a conference for four minutes before the plate umpire ruled a strikeout, causing Byrne to become animated.

“I don’t want to comment on it, but I’m real sure they had an idea,” Bryne said. “I think all three of them saw something different. I said the wrong thing. I don’t know what it was. Tough call. It was a big call. It was what it was. It’s not what cost us the game.”

Byrne was proud of how his team competed after being off for 11 days.

“That’s a good team. Like we just said to our guys we went toe to toe with that club all night,” Bryne said.

“I don’t think we played nervous, I don’t think we played scared. I think the crowd was awesome and I hope it’s bigger tomorrow because we’re going to need it.”

Roseburg 14, Wausau 0: Bulldogs pitcher John Roberts, who entered with an 8-0 record, lasted just four batters after allowing three walks and hitting a batter.

The first batter that reliever Austin Priebe faced, Josh Graham, crushed a grand slam on a 1-2 pitch. Roseburg added one more run for a 6-0 lead after one inning.

Medford, the 2009 World Series runner-up, was heavily favored to capture the Oregon state championship last weekend. But somebody forgot to tell Roseburg, which knocked off the Mustangs twice to advance to Spokane.

In a way, the Docs are playing with a chip on their shoulder.

“They’re a good team,” Graham said of Medford, “but we grind and we never quit. It was a great start today to put up 14 runs on the board. If we can keep doing that, who knows we might end up being No. 1.”

Roseburg added three runs in the second, two more in the third and three more in the fifth as the Docs took advantage of 10 walks and three hit batters.

Graham wasn’t trying to do anything special when he came to the plate with the bases loaded in the first.

“I just wanted to get the ball in play and get some runners in,” said Graham, who finished with six RBIs.

Docs pitcher Brandon Jackson (9-1) went the distance, scattering seven hits.

“B.J. came in and threw strikes and kept his pitch count down (66),” Roseburg coach Scott Shaver said. “And we played defense behind him. We capitalized on mistakes. It’s exactly what we wanted to do to start the tournament.”

The Docs have followed a similar strategy recently.

“For the last two weeks we’ve been playing every inning, every out,” Shaver said. “As long as we keep doing that, playing like a team, we’ll be fine.”