Winning always feels good

Walla Walla Sweets vs. Cowlitz Black Bears

- Kevin Williams could not have said it better last night in his postgame interview.  The shortstop had two hits and when asked afterwards if it felt good to win he absolutely agreed.  His two hits were a key part of the Sweets 7-1 victory and it appears he is beginning to break out of the slump that has engulfed him to start the season.
- Chance Kopacz also did something last night that you don't see very often.  Battling back from a bruised left forearm, Kopacz had four hits.  His first three hits all came on the first pitch of his at-bat before he took a first-pitch ball in his fourth at-bat.
- The Sweets collected five extra-base hits last night and just seemed locked in throughout.  Austin Heaps doubled twice, Andrew Mendenhall and Williams each tripled and James Campbell also doubled.
- Pitching-wise, Walla Walla got their third-straight solid start.  Tim Culligan allowed just one run over seven innings on Tuesday, Trent Allianic allowed two runs on three hits over eight innings Thursday and Daniel Jewett allowed a run over six innings last night. 
- We mentioned it last night about getting closer and closer to putting it together and last night's game only furthered that judgement.  The Sweets made just one error, got solid pitching and collected several timely hits.
- One concerning stat is that the Sweets have given up a run in the first inning in each of their last four games.  Getting behind early is never a good thing.
- Tonight is the final home game for the Sweets before hitting the road for nine straight.  A victory would be a huge uplifter to start the road trip that will see them face East Division-leading Wenatchee, Bellingham, a team the Sweets are battling for 2nd place, and the Kitsap Bluejackets.
- It is also Armed Forces Night at the ballpark and the fans in attendance will be treated to a postgame fireworks show. 
- Speaking of fans, there is expected to be close to a sellout tonight.  With temps hovering around 90 degrees, the fans of Walla Walla have two reasons why a baseball game is a good idea!
- As for Cowlitz, the Black Bears had their eight-game win streak snapped last night and are trying to get back on the horse tonight.
-Their starter, Jeff Gold, has faced the Sweets once this season and it accounted for his only loss.  He gave up four runs on six hits over four innings as W2 won 9-3.
- Brent Graham leads the Black Bears against the Sweets, hitting .313 (5-16) with a .450 OBP.  Billy Flamion has scored five runs and driven in five against W2.

So Close

Walla Walla vs. Cowlitz 7-1-11

- After last night's game it feels like the Sweets are on the verge of putting it all together.  There have been very few nights this summer when the Sweets have done everything right; hit well, pitch well and play solid defense.  Those nights appear to be on the way with the Sweets performance over the past week.
- Walla Walla has lost nine of their last ten and eight of those have been by three runs or less.
- After Trent Allianic's first start of the summer against Corvallis on June 5 a lot of his teammates talked about his competitiveness level and his will to win.  The right-hander showed that last night, allowing two runs on three hits over eight innings.  He struck out six and walked only one.
- Andrew Mendenhall continues to find his groove for the Sweets, hitting safely in four straight games.  His solo home run last night tied the game at 1-1 and he made an amazing sliding catch in left-center that kept the game tied in the fourth.  He has shown power, speed, range and a very strong arm so far this summer.
- Brenton Allen may only be hitting .222 but his .429 on-base percentage is miles ahead of any other Sweets batter.  He had his first two-hit game of the summer last night and is starting to show us some of the tools that the Phillies saw, drafting him last spring. 
- Yesterday started 12 games in 12 days for the Sweets, arguably their toughest test of the season.  They will play one more home game on Saturday before embarking on a nine-game road trip on Sunday. 
- Cowlitz is currently one of the hottest teams in the league, winning eight-straight games.  They sit a game behind West Division leader Corvallis.
- The Black Bears are a quick team, their 32 stolen bases ranking them second in the league.
- Their starter tonight, Stuart Fewel, was 9-1 this spring at Lower Columbia and pitched in the league last summer for the Wenatchee Applesox as a high school senior.

Back to Borleske!

The Sweets are back in town after their six-game road trip and will start at three-game series against Cowlitz tonight.  We traveled all night on Tuesday night, leaving Kelowna at midnight and returning to Walla Walla at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

They used the day off to rest up and are looking forward to getting back in front of the home crowd tonight.  It will also be nice to get home after going 1-5 on the road trip.

Today also starts a string of 12 games in 12 days, nine coming on the road.

Notes and notables...

Walla Walla- 6-12
- The Sweets snapped an eight-game losing streak on Tuesday and will look to snap Cowlitz's seven-game win streak tonight.
- Walla Walla is 8-5 at Borleske Stadium this summer.  They are 4-5 in league play and 4-0 in non-league games.
- W2 lost two-of-three against Cowlitz earlier this month in Longview.  The Black Bears won 7-1 and 8-1 and the Sweets were victorious 9-3.
- Alex Stanford hit .391 on the road trip and has hit in 11-straight games at home.
- As a team, the Sweets are hitting .201 at home and .214 on the road.  Elliot Stewart and James Campbell are both hitting .294 at home to lead the team. 
- Chance Kopacz, .333 (4-12), had the most success against the Black Bears in their first meeting. 

Cowlitz- 11-9
- The Black Bears comes to Borleske on a 7-game win streak and are two games behind Corvallis in the West Division standings. 
- Kyle Garlick has joined Cowlitz and is hitting.  He leads the team with a .315 average and has three doubles, two triples and a home run.  He has scored 12 runs.  Braxton Miller's 16 walks are a team-high, 8 coming in the three games against the Sweets earlier this summer.
- Garlick currently is riding a seven-game hit streak and has a hit in all but two games this summer.
- High school senior Spencer O'Neil leads the Black Bears with 10 RBI and was drafted by the Yankees in this year's First-Year player draft.
- Cowlitz was swept by Wenatchee but since June 15 have gone 9-2.
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We played all night...nearly!

When you are mired in a long losing streak things like Monday night happen.  Walla Walla and Kelowna played even baseball for 13 1/2 innings until the Falcons finally got the break in the bottom of the 14th.

The wild pitch that scored Kyle Pearson from third in the 14th was the only bad pitch that reliever Eric Yardley threw on the night.  From Seattle U., Yardley came on in the 12th with the bases loaded and two outs and struck out the batter to end the inning.  He then got a ground out and a fly out to left to leave a runner on a third in the 13th.  Despite the unfavorable outcome, both the Yardley and the Sweets have to pleased with how he pitched in a tight situation.

Another pitcher that continues to throw well is Jacob Overbay.  In his previous two appearances he had allowed just two hits over 4.2 innings of relief.  Last night, he went 3.2 innings and gave up three unearned runs.  He is showing confidence and is pounding the strike zone consistently.

Here's a look at some more notes...

Walla Walla- 5-12
- The eight-game losing streak matches last year's high set June 20-27.
- A night after his seven-game hitting streak was snapped, Alex Stanford had three hits and scored twice on Monday.  He leads the team in average (.288), doubles (4) and runs scored (9).
- Andrew Mendenall's two-run double in the fourth extended his modest hitting streak to three games.  He has six hits on the season but has driven in five runs (3rd on the team).
- The four-run fourth was the most runs the Sweets had scored in an inning since they scored four in the eighth against Klamath Falls on June 14.
- Tuesday's starter Tim Culligan is looking for his third win of the summer.  He won his first two decisions before giving up three runs on six hits in five innings of a 5-1 loss to Wenatchee.

Kelowna- 5-15
- Kyle Pearson has hit in five-straight, raising his average from .172 to .250 entering Tuesday.
- Brandon Marris has thrown five scoreless innings over the last two days, lowering his ERA from 7.45 to 5.92.  He has not walked a batter or given up a hit and has struck out five.
- Tuesday's starter, Jared Mortenson, threw a inning of relief on Sunday night, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

Hello from Canada

The Sweets have successfully made it across the border into Canada.  The team left Corvallis at 4 a.m. on Monday morning, stopped in Seattle to switch bus drivers and arrived in Kelowna, B.C. at 4 p.m.  After a quick bite to eat, the team arrived at Elks Stadium at 5 p.m., just in time to warm-up and play catch.  It was the definition of show-and-go.

While the outcome was not in their favor, the players competed for nine innings and are showing signs of coming together as a team.  The trip has been a great way for the players to connect with one another and even with the losses, they should come home as more of a TEAM.

As far as the 12-hour bus ride goes, that was very interesting.  Most of the team, I think I was the only one that didn't, fell asleep on the bus for the first four hours or so of the trip.  Once passed Seattle, there were magnificent sites to see as we drove through the mountains.  Kelowna is a gorgeous town and we are looking forward to checking out the waterfront as a team tomorrow during the morning.  Kevin Hawk, a Falcon in 2010, has told us many a great story about the city of Kelowna and its many treasures.

Now, onto baseball...

Walla Walla- 5-11
- The Sweets dropped out of 2nd place in the East Division with their 7th straight loss and Bellingham's victory.  The Bells are 6-13 and a half game ahead of the Sweets.
- Walla Walla's seven-straight losses are one shy of the longest losing streak last year.
- Ryan Richardson has yet to walk a batter in 22 total innings this summer.  He has struck out 14 and allowed 19 hits.
- The Sweets are in the bottom three of both hitting (8th, .202), pitching (8th, 3.65) and fielding (7th, .955). 
- Despite hitting just .185, Brenton Allen has a .450 on-base percentage thanks to a team-high 10 walks.

Kelowna- 4-15
- The Falcons snapped a six-game losing streak with their victory on Sunday.
- Last year, the Falcons and Sweets split their six games.  W2 took two-of-three in Kelowna and the Falcons took two-of-three at Borleske.
- It was the 2nd shutout of the summer for the Falcons.  They shut out Kitsap 5-0 on June 15.
- During their six-game losing streak, all six losses came by three runs or less.

Another Tough Knight

Walla Walla just can't seem to catch a break.  Corvallis scored three first-inning runs on Friday and that was all they needed, winning 5-2. 

After starter Adam Duke allowed five hits in the first two innings, three relievers combined to allow just one run on four hits over the final seven innings.  At one point, they retired 11 straight Sweets hitters.

The Sweets are back at it again today when they face the Knights in game three of their series before traveling to Kelowna overnight.

Notes:
Walla Walla- 5-9
- W2 has lost five straight league games and is 1-4 on the road this summer.
- Alex Stanford extended his hitting streak to six games with a single in the ninth inning on Friday.  Including games against Portland, the streak is at eight. 
- As a team, the Sweets are 0-9 when trailing after five innings.
- Tyler Billen will make his second start of the summer, his first in league play.  He allowed one run on four hits over six innings against the Portland Toros in his first start.  He earned a save against Klamath Falls last week.
- Kevin Hawk currently has a three-game hitting streak, four overall and has raised his batting average from .107 on June 16 to .211 entering tonight.


Corvallis- 9-7
- The Knights have won six of their last eight games are just one game behind Bend in the West Coast League's West Division.
- Trent Oleszczuk is hitting .571 (4-7) in two games against the Sweets this summer and Sean Myrom is hitting .385 (5-13) with two doubles and three RBI.
- Corvallis is hitting just .209 against the Sweets but has won three of the five games so far this season. 
- Corvallis is also 7-1 at home this summer and have won their last six games at Goss Stadium.
- The Knights' starting pitcher, Jace Fry, was selected in the 9th round by the Oakland Athletics in this years Amateur Player's Draft.

Bump in the Road

The positive thing for the Sweets after Thursday's 3-1 loss is that there is still five games remaining on the road trip.  Despite out-hitting the Knights, the Sweets could not get the crucial hit when they needed it.  They played well otherwise, making just one error and got strong pitching from Aaron Hoverson and Brett Watson.  Watson went 3.2 innings of scoreless relief.

This morning, the Sweets utilized a local gym to get their workouts in and then went to lunch as a team in Corvallis.  Some went to Chipotle and others to Jimmy Johns.  Once back at the hotel some, Drew Fittry, Tyler Billen and myself, made our way to relax in the hot tub. 

As we arrived at the ballpark the sky was a gorgeous shade of blue and the flags atop the scoreboard in right-center were barely blowing.

Notes:
Walla Walla- 5-8
- The Sweets have lost four straight WCL games but are still in second place in the East Division.  Their record would put them in last place in the West Division.
- W2 is now 1-3 on the road this summer.
- Walla Walla started the season 3-0 when scoring first but have dropped the last two games, including last night, they have done so.
- Kevin Hawk's three singles marked his first multi-hit game of the summer.  He is hitting .400 (4-10) in his last three games.
- Alex Stanford extended his hitting streak to five straight in league play with two hits on Thursday.  He's hitting .282 with a team-high seven runs.
- Brett Watson allowed just one walk, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings of relief.  In two appearances against Corvallis, he has allowed three runs (zero earned) on four hits over 9.2 innings.  He has walked one and struck out seven.
- Kyle Anderson from Cal Poly will make his first start of the summer tonight for the Sweets.  He pitched in the West Coast League for Spokane as a freshman and pitched in the Northwoods League last summer.
Corvallis- 8-7
- Corvallis won their fifth straight home game on Thursday and are 5-1 (6-1 overall) at home this summer.
- Kramer Scott has four hits in his last seven at-bats.
- Dylan Stuart, the Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year picked off two Sweets runners in the first two innings.
- It was the sixth win in the ten game series for Corvallis.  The Knights lead the series 6-4 and are 3-1 against the Sweets at Goss Stadium. 
- Since the arrival of the Knights full-time players, Corvallis has gone 5-2, only losing to Wenatchee twice.