ONALASKA — The 2010 Indians seem to have a penchant for late-game heroics and they showed it again in their SWW 1A League Evergreen Division opener here Thursday afternoon.
RJ Covey blasted a grand slam in the top of the eighth inning to put Toledo up 15-9 against Onalaska and essentially seal its second straight extra-innings win.
The Indians went on to win the game 15-11 in eight as they racked up 14 hits.
“It was nice to see us hit the ball well,” said Toledo coach Perry Herbst, whose team improved to 3-1 (1-0) in league.
Toledo scored in bunches in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader, notching eight runs between the fourth and fifth frames, then tacked on six more runs in the final inning.
Alex Kleemeyer nailed a 3-run homer in the fifth inning, finishing 3 for 4 with 5 RBIs.
But it was Covey’s grand slam the sealed the deal. The sophomore ended the game 2-4 with 5 RBIs.
Both Alex Teitzel and Peter Martin went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs, while Jake Teitzel was 2-3 with an RBI.
The Loggers mounted a late comeback in the seventh inning, loading the bases with two outs and hitting a grounder into left field to score the runner from third, but Jake Teitzel roped one in from the outfield to catcher DJ Herbert who had the plate blocked perfectly. The throw nailed the Onalaska runner at the plate for the third and final out of the inning, leaving the game knotted at 9.
“That was a great throw from Teitzel,” said Herbst. “It was a big play for us. It got us excited again and it was the third out, too.”
Onalaska finished the game with 11 runs on 15 hits and committed just one error.
The nightcap of the twinbill was postponed due to darkness and will be restarted today at 4 p.m. at Onalaska. Toledo was up 7-3 after three innings of play.
Beavers Sweep Doubleheader With Rainier
TENINO — The Beavers got a pair of home wins here Thursday night, 7-5 and 7-3, over SWW 1A League Evergreen Division opponent Rainier.
“It was just great to start off league with two wins,” said Beaver coach Jesse Elam. “They just played their tails off. We made some mistakes but we battled through them and made it happen.”
Tenino was down 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning in Game 1, where it rattled off four runs to establish some comfort in the scoring differences, but watched in discomfort in the final inning as the tying runner was on first base.
“We wanted to get out of there and finish that thing,” Elam said. “It was pretty nerve-racking.”
Nick Leatherwood went 3 for 4 in Game 1, and Josh Moss tallied 10 strikeouts from the mound with two hits.
“Moss threw a heck of a ballgame,” Elam said.
The Beavers held just 1-0 lead through three innings of Game 2, before having innings of one run, three runs and two runs, respectively.
Will Kramer, Gavin McGee and Ryan Schlesser each had two hits, and Schlesser hit a solo home run in the fourth.
Tenino (2-1) plays at Yelm Monday at 4 p.m.
Warriors Put Forks’ Early Successes in the Twilight
ROCHESTER — Forks put four first-inning runs on the board over two games with Rochester here Thursday night in 1A Evergreen competition.
Promising starts, right? The only problem was that the Spartans mustered just five runs on the day, as the Warriors delved in and out of consistency to pull off a 13-3 and 9-2 win.
“It was a great day, good weather, good two league wins,” Warrior coach Jerry Striegel said. “It was a great way to start off the league season.”.
Zach Eastman went 4-5 on the day with 5 RBIs, Brian Cordell went 5-6, and Chris Bishop was a perfect 4-4 in Game 2 with a pair of doubles and RBIs.
“The kids did a very good job of staying disciplined and seeing the ball all the way to the plate,” said Striegel, whose team racked up 28 hits on the day.
Rochester (2-1, 2-0 league) hosts Elma today.
