Pirates pound Wolverines

By ARGUS OBSERVER SPORTS STAFF
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 1:02 PM PDT

Payette’s Kacee Hirchet gets set to a swing at a pitch during the fourth inning of the Pirates’ Snake River Valley Conference baseball game against Weiser Tuesday at Harmon Killebrew Field in Payette. Payette won the game, 20-5.

Payette - The Payette baseball team scored 12 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning Tuesday on its way to a 20-5 thrashing of Weiser in Snake River Valley Conference action at Payette High School.

The Pirates already staked an 8-2 lead entering the fourth thanks to some clutch hitting the inning before.

With two runners on and two outs, Corey Harrison hammered a two-run triple to give Payette a 4-0 lead. Joe Barrera and Brad Pollock each followed with a walk to load the bases, which Kacee Hirchet cleared with a three-run triple. Hirchet then scored on an error, and the lead swelled to 8-0.

The wheels fell off for Weiser in the fourth, as the Wolverines’ pitching staff walked seven batters and gave up five more hits, which allowed the Pirates to score 12 runs in the inning and take a commanding 20-2 lead heading into the fifth.

Weiser scored three times in the top of the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to extend the game.

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“In the third inning, Harrison and Hirchet stepped up huge,” Payette head coach Tracy Bratcher said. “Guys in the middle of the lineup have been driving in runs for us all year. (Travis) Blackwell, definitely not his best outing, but good enough to get a win.”

Blackwell (4-1) allowed five runs and four hits in five innings, with six walks and six strikeouts.

Pollock, Nick Reedy and Troy Swisher each scored three times for Payette (11-7 overall, 3-2 SRV). Reedy finished 3-for-4 at the plate.

“Hopefully we get after it, and we’re playing our best ball at the right time,” Bratcher added.

Payette next hosts Parma Saturday for Harmon Killebrew Day.

Fruitland 15, 17,

Minico 4, 4

The Fruitland baseball team keeps plugging along.

The Grizzlies scored 32 runs and pounded out 34 hits Tuesday in a doubleheader sweep of the Minico Spartans, winning the opening game 15-4 and rolling along in Game 2, winning 17-4.

“I thought we swung it very well,” Fruitland head coach Russ Wright said. “I think our kids played very hard. We seemed like we ran the bases very, very well on the day. We had 29 stolen bases.”

The Grizzlies broke loose in the sixth inning in Game 1, scoring eight runs to stretch out to a 14-4 lead.

Fruitland pounded out 19 hits in the game, with eight different players racking up multiple hit days, including 3-for-4 performances by Nate Bake and Kole Olinger.

Minico held a 4-3 lead after two innings in the nightcap, but watched as Fruitland scored 14 unanswered runs to cruise to victory.

The only downside on the afternoon was when Blayne Marples went out with a separated shoulder. The senior is expected to be out about two weeks.

The Grizzlies (17-2 overall) travel to McCall Thursday for a Snake River Valley Conference match-up.

Melba 10,

New Plymouth 4

The Melba Mustangs scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to break open a 3-3 tie to come out with a 10-4 win over New Plymouth Tuesday in Melba.

Pilgrim starter Chase Maness struck out six and gave up five hits but walked eight batters in suffering the loss.

A day after pounding out 11 hits against Vale, the Pilgrim bats went silent as they notched two hits and had six players earn walks.

New Plymouth’s Kirk Ramsey and Kyle Harmon had hits, while Matt Schlett, Josh Bergin, Jacob Kurth and Maness all scored runs.

“We played well up until the fifth,” New Plymouth head coach Darin Gray said. “The weather conditions got the best of us. Chase had a tough time on the mound, slipping on the mound and he couldn’t get the right footing. Seemed like Melba hung together when the weather went bad. The conditions got bad and we fell apart and they didn’t.”

New Plymouth (3-8 overall, 2-2 WIC) hosts Nampa Christian Thursday.