PORT ANGELES — The Lefties tried to come back after getting shelled with 11 runs in the first four innings against the Walla Walla Sweets, but it was too big of a hole to dig out of as the Lefties fell 11-6.
Walla Walla scored 11 runs off of starter Ron Brown and new reliever Tyler Fox in Friday’s game at Civic Field, putting the Lefties down 11-1. Newcomer Kyle Hamrick came in to pitch in the fifth and settled the Walla Walla bats, going five innings and giving up just one hit and no earned runs in his successful debut for the Lefties.
The Lefties tried to rally, scoring a run in the fifth and three in the seventh.
Newcomer Nicholas Israel had a good game in his Lefties’ debut, going 2 for 2 with three RBIs. Kyle Schimpf had a double and an RBI for the Lefties, while Trevor Rosenberg and Trey Morgan each scored two runs.
In Thursday night’s road game against Bellingham, the Lefties played the first-place Bells tough, but ultimately fell 5-4.
The Lefties managed just four hits in the loss, but they were timely as Bellingham needed a two-run sixth inning to pull the game out.
Justin VanDebrake had half of the Lefties’ hits, going 2 for 3 with a run scored. Matthew Boissoneault and Rosenberg each had RBIs on sacrifice flies.
The Lefties got to Bells’ starter Chris Micheles early, scoring three runs in the first 2 2/3 innings. But, Marcos Cuenca and Peter Kemble slammed the door in relief, giving up just one hit and one earned run over the final 6 1/2 innings.
Lefties’ pitchers Thomas Ruwe and Erik Haugen pitched well enough to win, but the Lefties’ bats just couldn’t break through against the West Coast League’s top pitching staff. Ruwe pitched six innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits and one walk. Haugen pitched two scoreless innings, giving up one hit and walking four.
The Lefties (6-13 second half) played Saturday night against Walla Walla after press deadline. They wrap up their series with the Sweets at 1:05 p.m. today at Civic Field.
Sweets 11, Lefties 6
Sweets 3 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 — 11 11 6
Lefties 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 1 — 6 7 0
WP: Moyle LP: Brown
Pitching
Sweets — Moyle 5IP, 3H, ER, 3BB, 9K; Blackburn 1.2IP, H, 4BB, K; Short 1.1IP, BB; Wood 1IP, 3H, ER, 4K.
Lefties — Brown 2.2IP, 4H, 4ER, 6BB; Fox 1.1IP, 6H, 7ER, BB, K; Hamrick 5IP, H, 0ER, 5K.
Hitting
Sweets — Caufield 3-4, 2R, BB; Hovey 3-4, 2R, 2RBI; Filby 1-3, HR, 2R, 3RBI, BB; Farris 1-5, 2B, R, 2RBI; Nyquist 1-3, R, 2RBI.
Lefties — Israel 2-2, 3RBI; Morgan 1-3, 2R; Rosenberg 1-4 2R; Schimpf 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB, HBP; Boissoneault 0-3, R, 2BB, SB.
Bells 5, Lefties 4
Lefties 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 — 4 4 1
Bells 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 x — 5 7 3
WP: Cuenca LP: Ruwe
Pitching
Lefties — Ruwe 6IP, 6H, 4ER, BB, 3K; Haugen 2IP, H, 0ER, 4BB.
Bells — Micheles 2.2IP, 3H, ER, 4BB, K; Cuenca 4.1IP, H, ER, BB, 5K; Kemble 2IP.
Hitting
Lefties — VanDebrake 2-3, R, BB; Morgan 1-3, R, BB; Dicochea 1-4; Rosenberg 0-3, SF, RBI; Boissoneault 0-2, SF, RBI.
Bells — Stroup 2-4, 2 2B, 2R; Yake 1-3, 3B, 3RBI; James 1-2, RBI; McLain 1-3, R.
