KENNEWICK — The Olympic Crosscutters finished the 34th annual Duster Bowl with a 4-2 win over the Hanford Flames on Sunday.
It was the Crosscutters’ first win of the tournament after opening with three straight losses.
The Duster Bowl was tough for the area baseball team.
It was supposed to be.
Olympic coach John Qualls said he wanted the Cutters to have the challenge of playing in heat. He got his wish: game-time temperatures were as high as 115 degrees.
“That’s what we were after,” Qualls said. “It was kind of our goal was go to averse conditions.
“It was obvious the team wasn’t acclimated to the weather. We would play our usually fundamentally sound baseball for first four innings and then fall off after that.
“Mentally, they stayed focused and competed as hard as they could.
“We’re right where we wanted to be after the tournament.”
Lane Dotson starred on the mound and at the plate for Olympic.
He held the Flames to three hits over five innings while striking out five to earn the win.
He also had two hits and drove in a pair of runs, including the go-ahead run in the third inning that was scored by A.J. Prater.
Nigel Christian doubled and scored for the Cutters. He also drove in Gavin Velarde with a single in the fifth inning that gave Olympic a 4-2 lead.
Both teams plated two runs in the first inning.
Velarde singled and Christian doubled to give Olympic runners at second and third with one out.
Velarde scored the first run when Dotson reached on an error. Christian and Dotson pulled off a double steal, Dotson taking second base and Christian stealing home to give the Cutters a 2-0 lead.
Hanford responded with two unearned runs in its half of the inning.
Dotson then shut down the Flames over the next four innings before being relieved by brother Cole Dotson and Nick Faunce.
“He threw awesome,” Qualls said of Lane Dotson.
“He was really pinpoint, hitting his spots real well, he kept the ball low.”
Qualls was proud of how his team handled the heat.
“They didn’t break down,” he said.
“I’m really happy with the strides. Despite the win-loss record, we actually made several strides.”
Next up for the Cutters is two games in two different counties Wednesday.
First, they play at the Olympic Tigers for their second-to-last American Legion AA league game at 11 a.m.
Then they travel to Centralia for the GSL College Showcase tournament, which the Cutters open against Seattle Stars Elite at 6 p.m.
Over 40 universities and colleges have committed to attending, including six NCAA Division I schools: University of Washington, Seattle University, Youngstown State University (Ohio), Brown University (Rhode Island), Oregon State University and University of Northern Colorado.
“I’m already getting emails from colleges,” Qualls said.
“The kids are going to network. I’m looking forward to playing some of the top teams in the country, but more so the exposure the kids will get.”
After a pair of road games against North Kitsap and Tumwater on July 14 and 15, respectively, the Cutters will host the American Legion AA district tournament at Civic Field on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 17-19.
Crosscutters 4, Hanford 2
Crosscutters 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 — 4 8 2
Hanford 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 4 3
WP- L. Dotson; LP- Manderloach
Pitching Statistics
Crosscutters: L. Dotson 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, BB, 5 K; C. Dotson IP, H, 0 R, BB; Faunce IP, 0 R, BB, 3 K.
Hanford: Manderloach 7 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 K.
Hitting Statistics
Crosscutters: L. Dotson 2-3, 2 RBI, SB; Christian 2-4, 2B, R, RBI, SB; Velarde 1-4, 2 R; Harker 1-3, 3B; Prater 1-4, R, SB; Hilliard 1-3.
Hanford: White 2-4, R; Kekkely-Woody 1-3, SB; Young 1-2.
