Budd Bay brings it home
It came as no surprise.
Everyone knew the Bandits were going to win. And, of course, they did. The Budd Bay Bandits used great hitting, pitching and defense to knock off the Spokane Bandits 9-1 Tuesday to win the 2006 American Legion Senior Division Fourth of July Tournament at Shadle Park’s A.K. Jackson Field.
Budd Bay, a team from Olympia, won the game on the eight-run mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth inning after Georgie Miller hit a screaming line drive that hit the bottom of the fence in left field and scored two runs.
Alongside its productive offense, Budd Bay benefited from great pitching and defense. Steven Northrupp pitched all five innings, striking out four and allowing only three hits. Budd Bay coach Brady Hoover was impressed.
“He was solid. He threw strikes and got ground balls,” said Hoover. “He’s our number one guy the whole year. He just goes right after you and throws strikes, he has good movement and just gets guys out.”
Spokane got itsonly run in the first inning and looked ready for an offen- sive explosion. Scott Ward led off the game with a single and then was moved to second base on Adam Smith’s sacrifice ground ball. Two batters later, Kyle Krustangel hit an RBI triple to score Ward. That would be the last run Spokane would score.
Spokane coach Chris Spring said his players couldn’t get it going offensively against Northrupp.
“He was obviously good,” said Spring. “When you’re a strike thrower and you’re throwing breaking balls for strikes and you keep people off balance, then you’re going to be effective.”
Spring said Northrupp did a good job of locating his pitches.
“I don’t think he overpowered us,” he said. “He just kept the ball down and got a lot of ground balls and he threw his breaking ball consistently for strikes, and that’s going to get good results.
Designated hitter Seth Monson came up big for Budd Bay offensively. In the bottom of the first, Monson hit a two-out, two-run double to give Budd Bay a lead it would never surrender. He was 2 for 3 and drove in three runs.
“I was just looking for a first-pitch fastball and luckily he gave it to me,” said Monson about his big hit in the first inning. “It felt good.”
The Budd Bay Bandits also showed off their defensive skills, making several great plays to stop Spokane’s few scoring opportunities. Hoover said that was the key to his team’s win.
“It’s the most important thing,” he said. “If you have a team that can play good defense then you’re going to be hard to beat. That’s our biggest thing. We’re going to swing the bats and if we play good defensively, we’re going to be tough.”
Both coaches had positive things to say about the Fourth of July Tournament. For Hoover, this is his first year coaching in this tournament.
“It’s a good tournament,” he said. “It’s really run well. There are pretty friendly people here and the tournament directors are great and the umpires were pretty good.”
Spring agreed, but had one complaint.
“As a field, it was below average,” he said. “It’s always well run and I think they do a good job of representing Spokane, but I’d like to see the field a little stronger.”
Spring commented on the exceptional play of relief pitcher James McNeil, who relieved starter Chad Berland in the second and pitched very well for 2 1/3 innings.
“He did a good job, he battled,” said Spring. “That’s what we get from all of our guys, regardless of the outcome. I got a group of guys that likes to battle and give me everything they have every inning. What more can you ask?”
Jr . Division Championship
Anthony Via hit a solo home run in the fifth inning and finished 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs as Gonzaga Prep beat Mt. Spokane 5-2 to win the Junior Division of the Fourth of July Tournament.
Gonzaga Prep finished the tournament unbeaten at 5-0.