Warriors hit trifecta, win 15th straight; Controversial triple play highlights L-C's 9-2 triumph over Central Washington
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The call was debatable, and the impact something less than decisive. The iffy triple play that evolved from Antoine McLeod's magnificent catch was by no means the impetus behind Lewis-Clark State's 15th consecutive victory.

But it eclipsed the more tangible aspects of the Warriors' 9-2 win over Central Washington just the same.

Saturday's game at Harris Field, L-C's first action in six days, featured another strong pitching performance by Brad Davis and continued offensive prosperity by Warrior hitters, Joey Dyche and Brandon Morris in particular.

These commendable efforts left L-C with an 8-1 advantage after six innings. Then they were upstaged by a moment of fielding brilliance.

The Warriors made several changes in the Central Washington seventh, among them replacing Davis with Austin Weilep and bringing McLeod in to play left field. Weilep opened the inning by yielding singles to Josh Small and Kevin Knutsen, then walked Tyler Hunt to load the bases.

The subsequent batter, Ryan Rockhill, drove a 1-0 Weilep pitch deep into the left-center field gap. McLeod, perhaps the fastest Warrior, began his angled pursuit on contact and, with a fully extended lunge, hauled in the sinking liner with the mitt on his right hand.

"That's a great catch; I can't think of many here that have been better," Warrior coach Ed Cheff said. "That's one of those balls where you figure, 'No way anybody's going to get to that.' "

Knutsen must have thought accordingly. He had scrambled to third before figuring out the catch had been made, and was easily doubled off second by a throw that came directly from McLeod.

Small, meanwhile, had remained fairly close to third. After McLeod's catch, he tagged up and scored.

But Warrior infielders, suspecting Small had left too early, made an appeal to third. Plate umpire Brian Bonds agreed, calling Small out.

Central Washington coach Desi Storey, who witnessed this all from the third-base coach's box, was incensed. He argued the call with Bonds, and was promptly ejected.

So stood L-C's second triple play in two seasons. Coincidentally, last year's also came at the expense of the Wildcats.

"That was just a great effort on (McLeod's) part," Cheff said. "That's the kind of play that can change a game."

Again, that probably wasn't the case Saturday. The Warriors, 23-4, had scored six times on as many hits -- among them Dyche's three-run homer -- in the third inning and picked up two more in the fourth. Brandon Morris had three hits, including RBI singles in those two frames.

That was ample support for Davis, who was both effective and efficient for his third straight start. After surrendering a pair of hits and an unearned run in the first inning, the senior left-hander retired the Wildcats in order in the second through fifth innings. Davis (2-1) has allowed just one earned run in those three starts, which encompass 19 innings.

Davis "is the best guy we've seen this year," said Storey, whose NCAA Division II ballclub had a seven game winning streak snapped as it fell to 15-11. "You've got to come up with big hits when you only have one or two chances to get something going."

Weilep, who threw the final three innings and gave up a run in the ninth, earned the save, his second.

The Warriors head to Vancouver for a two-game series with British Columbia beginning Tuesday.