LA VERNE/REDLANDS, Calif. - Playing two games about 40 miles
apart, the Puget Sound Loggers fell to La Verne in the morning,
20-10, before falling to Redlands in the afternoon, 18-14, on
Friday at the California Classic.
The Loggers opened up their road trip with the offense clicking
as Matt Cox (Salem, Ore./South Salem) led off the scoring with an
RBI double to left field that scored Doug Cox (Kailua,
Hawaii/Kalaheo) from second and then Chaz Kramer (Boulder,
Colo./Silver Creek) homered to give the Loggers a 3-0 lead.
The Leopards answered back in a big way with four runs in the
bottom of the first but the Loggers answered back in their next
at-bat as Mark Rockey (Mountlake Terrace, Wash./Univ. of New
Mexico) singled to center field to score Dakota Resnik (Bellevue,
Wash./Newport). ULV again took the lead with two runs in the
second and added another in the third to push their lead to 7-4.
In the top of the fourth, Rockey earned a bases-loaded walk to
score Andrew Grady (Cave Creek, Ariz./Phoenix Country Day) and then
Matt Cox was hit by a pitch to force in Resnik as the Loggers got
back within a run, 7-6. Just as quickly as the Loggers closed
the gap, the Leopards expanded it again, scoring three runs on two
hits in the fourth to pull back ahead by four. Both teams
added a run in the fifth as La Verne held an 11-7 lead heading into
the sixth.
Rockey opened up the sixth inning with a solo home run and then
Nick Cherniske (Angel Fire, N.M./College of Santa Fe) picked up an
RBI, driving in Matt Cox. Grady got the Loggers back within
one run on a fielder choice that scored Kramer but the Leopards
would explode for five runs in the bottom of the sixth and four
more in the bottom of the seventh to invoke the 10-run rule as the
Loggers headed east to take on Redlands.
Taylor Volz (Portland, Ore./Grant) took the loss for the
Loggers, allowing six runs on five hits with three walks and two
strikeouts in one and one-third innings pitched. Rockey
finished the game with three RBIs and one run scored while Kramer
and Matt Cox each scored twice and had two RBIs.
In the second game, the Loggers opened up the scoring yet again
as Rockey hit a two-out home run in the bottom of the first to give
the Loggers the 1-0 lead. Redlands took the lead over in the
top of the third with three runs on four hits and then two more
runs in the fourth put the Bulldogs up, 5-1.
The Loggers tied it up in the bottom of the fourth as Resnik
singled to left to score Will Mentor (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep)
and then Doug Cox followed that up with a three-run home run that
tied the game at 5. The Bulldogs scored a lone run in the
fifth to pull back ahead by one and then six runs in the sixth made
it look like Redlands would run away with the win.
Puget Sound had something to say about that in the bottom of the
sixth as the maroon and white exploded for seven runs on six hits,
highlighted by a grand slam by Mentor, as the teams headed into the
seventh inning tied at 12.
With the game tied, Redlands blew the game open in the seventh,
scoring five runs off freshman Matt Robinson (Lafayette,
Calif./Campolindo). A home run by Doug Cox pulled the Loggers
back within four but both squads scored once more in the ninth as
the Bulldogs escaped with the 18-14 win. Robinson took the
loss for the Loggers, falling to 4-1 on the year. Doug Cox
finished the game with two runs scored and five RBIs to pace the
Logger offense.
The Loggers will look to get back in the win column on Saturday
when they travel to Thousand Oaks, Calif. to take on Cal Lutheran,
beginning at 3:00 p.m.
