The Sobe-Toyota Lizards made the most of their home field advantage on Monday evening, handing Kennewick an 11-1 loss in the quarterfinals of the American Legion Senior Division State Tournament at Ed Wheeler Field.
"All weekend we've just played awesome," Sobe-Toyota coach Jake LeDuc said. "We've had three pitchers go complete games, and our defense has been outstanding."
John Sharkey was the latest pitcher to go the distance. Kennewick's lone run came in the first inning, after which Sharkey tossed seven scoreless frames in the shortened eight-inning affair. The right-hander allowed seven hits and struck out four, with five walks, though his defense committed just one error behind him.
"We have basically been, when we needed to be, flawless on defense," LeDuc said, adding that the team turned three double plays on Monday. "That's more than we've probably had all year. Those two phases (pitching and defense) have been great, and the hitting has been timely."
Zack Chamberlain went 3 for 5 at the plate with an RBI, while Joe Blaser and and Sharkey each added doubles and Sharkey knocked in 3 runs.
"It's been a little bit of everybody, all weekend long," LeDuc said of the hitting. "I'm just ecstatic with the way we've played."
The win sets Sobe-Toyota (24-17) up in a semifinal matchup with the Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak at 6 p.m. tonight. The Lizards beat the Pepsi Pak, 4-1, in the first round on Saturday.
"We're sitting in a pretty good place," LeDuc said. "It's just about us taking care of business again."
Sunday's Results
Sobe-Toyota 7, Hanford 4
Sobe-Toyota's Brady Calkins struck out six in a complete-game victory, giving up seven hits and 2 earned runs, in Centralia's 7-4 win over the Hanford Flames on Sunday night.
Calkins helped his own cause by going 3 for 5 at the plate with two doubles and a pair of RBIs.
Centralia scored 4 runs in the third inning to take a 4-2 lead and never trailed again. Zack Chamberlain went 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs, while Ty Housden and Keylen Steen each had two hits, with Steen knocking two doubles and driving in a run.
The win pushed the Lizards into the tournament quarterfinals against Kennewick.
Saturday's Results
Sobe-Toyota 4, Yakima Valley 1
The Lizards opened tournament play with a 4-1 win over Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak on Saturday, getting a complete-game effort from Brandon Conradi on the mound.
Conradi struck out four, walked one and allowed just six hits and an earned run in the win.
The offense, meanwhile, was highlighted by a 4 for 5 effort from Ty Housden, who also drove in a run. Justin Champion, Brady Calkins and Joe Blaser each added hits, with Zeb Chamberlain also driving in a run.
Sobe-Toyota took a 1-0 lead in the first, with Yakima Valley tying it up in the second inning. The Lizards pulled ahead with a run in the fourth and tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth to advance to move on to the winner's bracket.
