PORT ANGELES — Playing before one of their biggest crowds of the year, the Lefties got spectacular pitching late and rallied from an early deficit to nip the Bend Elks 4-3 at Civic Field.
Trayson Kubo pitched three scoreless innings Tuesday night, striking out four, to pick up the win while Jake Suddreth collected a save, pitching a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.
Bend got up 2-0 in the first inning thanks to an RBI double from Colin Runge and a bases-loaded groundout. The Lefties came back with a run in the bottom of the first. Taylor Adams got on base on a fielder’s choice, stole second then went to third on an error. Jake Portaro drove him in with a double to make it 2-1.
The Lefties tied it in the third when Kevin Kendall got on base with a walk, came around to third on a single by Adams and a fielder’s choice, then scored on a Sean Roby RBI single. Bend regained the lead with a run in the fourth, but the Lefties responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Seth Freed walked then stole second. He moved to third on a fielder’s choice and came in to score on a Benny Kaleiwahea groundout to make it 3-3.
At that point, the Lefties’ Kubo, Nick Johnston and Suddreth clamped down on the Bend offense, giving up zero hits over the last six innings, walking just one batter and combining for seven strikeouts.
The Lefties took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth. Freed got on base with a single, moved to second after a Kaleiwahea single and came in to score on an error by Bend first baseman Nico Holm.
Roby ended up with two hits and an RBI, while Portaro and Kaleiwahea had RBIs. Kendall had an RBI and a run scored.
The Lefties (8-10) played Bend Wednesday night after press deadline. They wrap up their home series with Bend at 6:35 p.m. today then have a nine-game road trip to Longview, Wenatchee and Bend.
They will return July 4 against Gresham.
Notes
The Lefties had a solid attendance of 1,200 Tuesday night for their first home game since June 10. It was probably the best weather for a Lefties’ home game this season, though windy. Roby’s RBI gave him 15 for the season, now second in the WCL.
Port Angeles 4, Bend 3
Elks 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 3 8 2
Lefties 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 — 4 6 1
WP: Kubo LP: Thometz
Pitching
Elks — Strang 5IP, 4H, 3ER, 4K, 4BB.
Lefties — Olson 3IP, 8H, 2ER; Kubo 3IP, 4K, 0H, BB; Johnston 2IP, 0H, K; Suddreth 1IP, 0H, 2K.
Hitting
Elks — Ferrarri 2-5, R; Chapman 2-4, RBI; Runge 2-4, R; Clayton 1-4, RBI.
Lefties — Roby 2-4, RBI; Freed 1-3, 2R, BB; Kaleiwahea 1-2, RBI, BB; Adams 1-3, R, BB.
