By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
BEND — After nearly pulling out a victory the night before, the Lefties finally won their first game of their nine-game road trip, beating up on Bend 9-3.
The win Friday snapped a six-game road losing streak. The Lefties had a 7-4 lead Thursday night against Wenatchee, but gave up two runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to lose 8-7 for their sixth straight loss.
The Lefties finally got off the road schneid against the Elks thanks to 12 hits, five steals and four Bend errors. Ian Nowak hit a solo home run, his third of the year, for the Lefties. Meanwhile, Brody Kato was a beast at the plate, going 5 for 5, ramping his batting average up to .333. Kato had two doubles, two RBIs, a stolen base and a run scored.
Aaron Charles also had a two-run double, while Austyn Tengan went 2 for 3 (improving his average to .352) with a walk, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Jake Portaro went 2 for 5. Seth Freed had two runs scored, two stolen bases and an RBI.
Andrew Zmuda got the win for the Lefties, going five innings, giving up five hits and two walks for two earned runs. Cam Walker went four innings, giving up just one earned run on four hits, with two strikeouts.
Jake Suddreth finished the game, pitching a scoreless ninth innings with one hit and one walk.
The Lefties (10-17) played Saturday against Bend after press deadline. They finish their road trip at 5 p.m. today against Bend.
Then, they finally return to the friendly confines of Civic Field for a Fourth of July game against Gresham at 6:35 p.m. The Lefties will play 19 home games in July after playing 16 out of their last 19 games on the road.
Port Angeles 9, Bend 3
Lefties 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 0 2 — 9 12 1
Elks 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 — 3 10 4
WP: Zmuda LP: Jackson
Pitching
Lefties — Zmuda 5IP, 5H, 2ER, 2BB, K; Walker 3IP, 4H, ER, 2K; Suddreth 1IP, 1H, BB, 0ER.
Elks — Jackson 6IP 9H, 4ER, 5K, 2BB; Schuler 2IP, 3H, ER; Kirk 1IP, 0H, 0ER.
Hitting
Lefties — Kato 5-5, 2 2B, 2RBI, R, SB; Nowak 1-5, HR, R, RBI; Tengen 2-3, 2R, BB, 2SB; Portaro 2-5; Charles 1-1, 2B, 2RBI; Freed 0-5, 2R, 2SB.
Elks — Maxwell 3-3, R, RBI; Runge 2-3, 2R; Rogan 1-4, RBI.
Wenatchee 8, Port Angeles 7
WENATCHEE — The Lefties had a big five-run inning against the Apple Sox in the second and took a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning but were not able to hold the lead in an 8-7 loss Thursday.
Seth Freed hit his first home run of the season and he made it count as it came with the bases loaded in the second inning. He also had a double and a walk and finished the game with five RBIs. Taylor Adams had a pair of hits in the game while Kevin Kendall had a double, a walk, scored two runs and had an RBI.
Keiran Shaw left the game with the lead, going six innings, and giving up four earned runs on five hits. But, the Lefties’ bullpen couldn’t hold the lead in the seventh and the eighth. Garrett Smith took the loss for the Lefties.
Notes
By going 5 for 5 against Bend, Kato raised his batting average from .288 to .333, ninth-best in the West Coast League. Tengen has the fifth-highest average in the WCL. The Victoria HarbourCats’ Claire Eccles picked up her first victory of the season (she earlier beat the Kitsap Bluejackets in a nonleague game), going one inning in the ninth and giving up one run as the HarbourCats blew up for six runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 12-11 win. Port Angeles fans won’t get a chance to see her pitch until early August when the HarbourCats come to visit.
Wenatchee 8, Port Angeles 7
Lefties 0 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 7 9 3
Sox 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 2 x — 8 9 1
WP: Leedholm LP: Smith
Pitching
Lefties — Shaw 6IP, 5H, 4ER, 3BB, 2K; Welander 1IP, 2H, 1ER, 2BB; Smith 1IP, 2H, 2ER, BB, K.
Sox — Boyd 7IP, 9H, 6ER, 2BB, 8K; Leedholm 2IP, 0H, 0ER, 0BB, 3K.
Hitting
Lefties — Freed 2-3, 2B, HR, 2R, 5RBI, BB; Adams 2-4; Kendall 1-3, 2B, 2R, RBI; Kato 1-4, RBI.
Sox — Johnson 2-3, 2B, 3R, RBI, 2BB; Damla 2-4, 2B, R, 3RBI, Taylor 1-3, 2B, RBI; Shirer 1-4, RBI.
