West Valley gets by Selah in 3A regional

Mitch Phillips faced an difficult situation during the Greater Spokane League/Mid-Valley 3A baseball regionals. But as he had earlier in the game, West Valley’s senior center fielder produced.

The result was a 5-3 Eagles comeback victory over visiting Selah that, coupled with North Central’s 7-1 road win at West Valley-Yakima, assures the GSL at least two state berths.

They will play for state seeding Saturday, 4 p.m., at Spokane Falls Community College. East Valley, a 5-4 winner in eight innings over Ellensburg, meets the Rams of West Valley-Yakima at 1 p.m. following the Hanford-Selah game at 10 a.m. Hanford’s Falcons eliminated Sunnyside 5-2.

WV’s win didn’t come easily, blowing a 2-0 first-inning advantage in the top of the fifth. All three Vikings runs were unearned.

But with two outs in the bottom of the inning, and after Eagles cleanup hitter Bryan Peterson was intentionally walked, Phillips spoiled the strategy.

His game-tying single sparked a three-run rally. Greg Bradley followed with the go-ahead hit and Phillips later scored on an error.

“They walked Bryan which is a smart move, but they don’t know Mitch like I do,” said Eagles coach Don O’Neal. “He’s been a clutch hitter when it counts.”

That would be enough for pitcher Bradley. Selah leadoff hitter Chris Demond was 4 for 4 with a run scored and RBI, but Bradley limited the Vikings second-through-fifth batters to one hit in 13 at-bats. They accounted for seven of his 11 strikeouts.

“My cut fastball was working really well and my curve was really biting today,” said Bradley. “Everything felt good from the start.”

But WV put things in jeopardy by committing three errors to open the fifth, leading to the three-run breakdown.

The Eagles came right back, started by Matt Peterson’s ground-rule double, that bounced over the left-field fence.

“The game was a lot closer than it should have been, but that doesn’t matter,” said O’Neal. “We’re going to state.”

In the other regional games, a four-run seventh inning gave pitcher Ryan Swanson breathing room during a route-going effort in North Central’s win. He went the distance, allowing five hits and striking out seven. Cory Swennumson, Evan Witt and Anthony Voelker had two hits each and scored four of the runs. … In East Valley’s win the Knights lost an early 3-0 lead, but Michael Stewart’s sixth-inning pinch-hit home run tied the game. Jye Lanphere singled home Ryan Campbell, who had reached base on an error, to win in extra innings. Mark Lengyel pitched six innings and went 3 for 3 with a triple.

•District 7 2A playoffs: Ryan Druffel went the distance, allowing three runs on three hits, in Pullman’s 9-3 win over visiting Chewelah in a loser-out game. Chris Snyder finished 2 for 2 with two doubles, and Mitch Riddle went 2 for 3 with two runs scored for the Greyhounds (15-6), who moved on to play at No. 2 Medical Lake today. The Cougars (4-17) scored all three of their runs on a bases-loaded double by Brandon Chartrey in the fourth inning. Pullman totaled 11 hits in the game with five players collecting two apiece. … Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) got two hits – a solo home run and a two-run double – from Rylin Dukes, and the Eagles cruised to a 10-2 win over visiting Riverside in a loser-out game. Kyle Stillar went 2 for 2 with three RBIs and batted in the go-ahead runs with a double in the fifth for Lakeside (12-8). The Eagles earned a meeting with No. 1 Colville today. Riverside (13-8) got its only runs on a two-run double from Jason Paul in the second inning. Eagles’ starter Anthony Froemke didn’t allow another runner past first base after the second inning.

•District 9 B playoffs: Colton defeated Touchet 5-1, and Liberty Christian topped LaCrosse-Washtucna 16-6 as the Wildcats and the Patriots advanced to the District 9 tournament in Pasco Saturday. Colton (11-1) will take on DeSales, and Liberty Christian will meet Asotin.

•Bi-County League tiebreakers: Almira/Coulee-Hartline earned the league’s No. 2 seed to the district tournament and the right to host a winner-to-state game with an 8-6 win over Liberty (13-8) at Wilbur-Creston. Taylor McDonald went 3 for 4 with an RBI to lead the Warriors (14-4). Liberty will face St. Michaels at Northport, with the winner to play the Hornets in a winner-to-state game at Northport Friday. ACH will face the Republic-Reardan winner at Hartline Friday. … Reardan earned its meeting with Republic after a 7-4 victory over Odessa (9-10) in a loser-out game at Wilbur-Creston.