In American Legion Baseball, the Trail “AAA” Jays and the “AA” Diamond Backs both split a pair of games over the weekend.
The Diamondbacks opened their season at Butler Park Sunday with a double-header against Spokane’s Shadle Park.
In the first game the D-Backs rallied to tie the game 3-3 in the third but gave up a run in the fifth and the seventh to go down to a 5-3 defeat.
Chris Whyte pitched well through six innings for the West Kootenay side, giving up three hits and two base-on-balls while striking out 11. The team lacked execution, making four errors and giving up timely hits.
After only getting four hits in the opener, the Diamondbacks exploded for 15 hits in the second half of the double-header, and scored nine runs in the final two innings, leading to a 14-4 thumping.
Trail’s Josh Blank had five RBI’s on three hits and two stolen bases, while Tanner Johnson helped the cause with four runs knocked in on a double and two singles.
“ Looks like we have a good pitching staff and we’re very athletic,” said coach Kelly Johnson. “It’s the first time we played together all year, so the result was pretty good.”
Tyrus Jocko picked up the win, going three strong innings while giving up two runs on three hits and striking out three.
Meanwhile, the Jays traveled to Chewelah to take on the Northeast 49ers. In the first game the Jays rode the strong arm of Dallas Calvin as he went the distance in a 6-1 win.
Calvin gave up five hits, walked four and struck out 4 for the victory.
Brady Glover led the way at the plate, smashing a home run, driving in two and going 3-for-4 at the dish. Fruitvale’s Jesse Rypien also homered as the Jays scored three runs in the top of seven to put the game out of reach.
The bats cooled for the Jays in the second game, as they only managed four hits in a 6-0 loss.
The Jays next action begins Friday when they return to Chewelah for the Border Wars Baseball Tournament.
The D-Backs next action is on June 11 against Lakeside.