Wolverines squeak by Nyssa

By RAY RODRIGUEZ - ARGUS OBSERVER
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 1:17 PM PDT

Nyssa’s Logan Skeen makes a diving attempt at a ground ball during the Bulldogs’ nonleague baseball game against Weiser Monday at Walter Johnson Memorial Field in Weiser. Nyssa lost the game, 9-7.

WEISER - The Weiser Wolverines spoiled the return of Nyssa pitcher Paul Jones with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat the Bulldogs 9-7 in a nonleague baseball showdown Monday at Walter Johnson Memorial Field in Weiser.

Jones, who made his first pitching appearance since March 13, tossed four innings, struck out five and left the game with a 7-4 lead, but the Wolverines came back on Nyssa reliever Logan Skeen down the stretch.

The Wolverines tied the score at 7 with three runs in the fifth inning, taking advantage of three Bulldog errors and a couple of clutch hits with runners in scoring position. For the game, Nyssa committed five errors, which allowed the Wolverines to come back into the game.

“There’s no way we can play in the league we’re in, commit that many errors and expect to win ball games,” Nyssa head coach Rollie Marshall said. “It’s just something our coaching staff is dealing with. We had a lack of focus today, and if we don’t get that focus back by Friday, we’ll be looking at a long league season. We had a pretty poignant meeting with the team tonight, so I’m hoping I got their attention. I’m hoping for a change by this Friday’s game.”

With the score tied at 7 in the sixth, Weiser’s Gavin Eisenbarth reached base after an error and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a Will Grindstaff fly-out, Brandon Richins followed with a single. Richins stole second and the Wolverines had runners in scoring position with Zach Widner at the plate.

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Widner hit a blooper to right field, which landed in front of Nyssa’s Dylan Cutler and both Eisenbarth and Richins scurried home to give Weiser a 9-7 lead, which was the first lead since the opening frame.

Eisenbarth went 3-for-4, Chris Rhew went 2-for-4 and Widner finished up the day going 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

Joe White, who entered the game in the fifth, tossed three innings of scoreless relief to earn his third win of the season.

Blaine Swain got the start and gave up three hits, but walked nine batters and needed an assist to help clean up his mess.

Jones went 1-for-3 with a walk, a home run and two RBIs, while teammate Anthony Holcomb went 0-for-1 with three walks and two runs scored.

Weiser (9-13 overall, 3-3 SRV) next travels to take on McCall-Donnelly today, while Nyssa (10-4, 2-2 EOL) next hosts first-place Burns Friday.

Homedale ......................... 7

Payette ............................ 4

After scoring 13 runs in front of Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew Saturday night, the Payette baseball team could only muster four hits and committed five errors in its 7-4 loss to Homedale Monday in Snake River Valley Conference baseball action in Homedale.

The Pirates held a brief 3-1 lead in the top of the third inning, but the Trojans came back in the bottom half to score three runs and take a 4-3 lead.

Homedale added two runs in the fourth and a single run in the fifth to take the lead for good.

“This game we didn’t come ready to play,” Payette assistant coach Tory Bratcher said. “We didn’t pitch very well, we didn’t hit very well and we didn’t catch the ball very well. We just didn’t have any intensity today to win a ball game. Tomorrow is a different day, so hopefully we can come back.”

Brad Pollock got the start for Payette, and he struck out nine and walked four. Travis Blackwell tossed two scoreless innings of relief and struck out two.

Joe Barrera, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles, led the offense, and Nick Reedy drove in two runs. Jordan Schultz and Justin Novotny also added run-scoring hits for Payette.

Payette (12-8 overall, 3-3 SRV) next hosts Fruitland Wednesday.