WALLA WALLA — The Port Angeles Lefties, dominated most of the game by Walla Walla, rallied in a wild ninth inning and nearly pulled out a dramatic, come-from-behind win Friday to snap their losing streak.
The Lefties scored six runs in the top of the ninth, but fell to the Sweets 7-6. The loss, the third in a row for Port Angeles, drops the Lefties’ record to 2-5 in West Coast League play.
Going in to the ninth, Port Angeles had been thoroughly shut down by Walla Walla starter Brandon Llewellyn, who went seven innings, giving up just one hit and no earned runs as the Sweets took a 7-0 lead into the ninth.
However, the Lefties got to reliever Jackson Lapiner in a big way. Lapiner had a quiet eighth inning, giving up zero hits, but in the ninth, he was rocked by Lefties’ hitters.
Takuto Kataoka (Edmonds CC) started off the rally with a double to right field. Trevor Tishenkel (California) followed with a double to left to score Kataoka. Javy Espinosa (Saint Mary’s) scored Tishenkel with a base hit to make it 7-2.
Garrett Lake (Purdue-Fort Wayne) got on board after a Sweets error and then Coleman Schmidt (Saint Mary’s) drove in Espinosa and Lake with a double to make it 7-4.
Eric Romo came in for the Sweets to try and stop the bleeding. He struck out Shea Thomas (Edmonds CC) and Nathan Chong (Saint Mary’s) to get within one out of a win, but then Jack Holman (UCLA) blasted a two-run home run to center-right to make it 7-6.
Romo was able to get the Lefties’ Kai Saterstrom (San Jose State) to strike out with the bases empty to finally end the rally. Nine Lefties came to the plate in the ninth inning.
Starter Justin Miller (Purdue-Fort Wayne) took the loss for the Lefties, giving up four earned runs in 3⅔ innings. Steven Brooks (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo) pitched well in relief, going 1⅔ innings and giving up one hit, one walk and no runs.
It was Holman’s second home run of the season. Holman, Lake and Schmidt are leading the Lefties with five RBIs each.
Port Angeles played at Walla Walla Saturday night after press deadline. They play the Sweets again at 6:05 p.m. Sunday. That game can be viewed on Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/ leftiesbaseball.
The Lefties return to Civic Field at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday to play the Bellingham Bells.
Walla Walla 7, Port Angeles 6
PA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 — 6 6 0
WW 0 0 3 2 0 0 2 0 x — 7 11 1
WP: Llewellyn LP: Miller SV: Romo
Pitching
PA — Miller 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K; Uemoto 2.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K; Brooks 1.2 IP, H, 0 ER, BB.
WW — Llewellyn 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K; Lapiner IP, 4 H, 3 ER, K; Romo IP, H, 0 ER, 3 K.
Hitting
PA — Holman 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI; Schmidt 1-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI; Tishenkel 1-4, 2B, R, RBI; Espinosa 1-4, R, RBI; Kataoka 1-2, R, BB.
WW — Wetterau 3-4, 2 R, RBI; Butler 2-4, R, RBI; Grimm 2-2 RBI; Cirillo 3-3, 3B, 2 R.
