Columbia Basin dropped both games of a double header at home against Spokane. Despite two quality starts from Hughes and Aribal, the Bigfoot were able to rally late in each game.
GAME 1
Two aces squared off in this one with
Ian Hughes taking on Ryun Cross from Spokane. Both pitchers were as advertised with Hughes having the edge.
The Hawks were able to jump ahead early with RBIs from
Brooks Rasmussen who connected on a fastball to left field that brought home
Isaac Haws.
Steven Meier was then able to put a ground ball in play to score Rasmussen on the sacrifice.
Hughes was able to get some help from the defense in the 5th on a diving catch from
Hunter Tiffany to end the Bigfoot threat. With two outs in the 7th and nobody on,
Jaxon Henderson was able to get the final out of the inning in relief. Tiffany singled in a run in the bottom of the frame to extend the lead to 3-1.
Spokane was able to counter in the 8th with a 2-out 2-run home run to tie it up. In the top of the 10th,
Cameron Soliz surrendered a 2-out single that helped Spokane bring home two for the 5-3 final.
GAME 2
Game 2 turned in to another pitcher's duel as
Josh Aribal took the mound looking for his 5th win of the season. Aribal was solid through 6 innings giving up just one in the 4th and one in the 5th.
With two outs in the bottom of the 5th, Haws connected on a line drive that found the gap in left center. Two runs scored on the play as Haws cruised safely into 3rd base. Those would be the only two runs for Basin in the game as the offense was unable to get anything going.
Aribal left in the 7th with a runner on 1st and two outs. The CBC bullpen was unable to get out of the bases loaded jam as a couple of wild pitches and a base hit allowed four runs to score. The Hawks were able to get some base runners in the last two innings but couldn't leverage them into any runs as the Sasquatch held on for the 6-2 final.
CBC will travel to Spokane on Saturday for the second leg of the series in what could have playoff implications for the Hawks.
