Wright delivers gem for Warriors; Starting pitcher goes the distance in L-C's 8-1 triumph over Alberston
Copyright of The Trib

By BRENNAN GAUSE
Of the Tribune

With the Warriors' schedule reaching the tail end of the season, Lewis-Clark State coach Ed Cheff is looking to get his starting pitching geared up for the postseason.

On Wednesday, Kyle Wright made a solid case for his inclusion in the rotation.

Wright tossed L-C's second complete game of the season to lead the Warriors to an 8-1 victory over Albertson at Harris Field.

"We're getting in the stage of the season where we're going to have to use (Wright) as one of our key starters," said Cheff, whose team climbs to 33-6. "Him and (Carlos) Fisher and (Ben) Newton, (Derrick) Landavazo and (Brad) Davis -- we'll probably extend all those guys some."

Albertson, 19-13, scored its only run in the first inning when Wright walked Greg Stalling on four straight pitches to start the game. Stalling promptly stole second and then moved to third on a fly ball to right field by Jake McGrady. Stalling crossed the plate moments later on a single up the middle by Charlie Strandlund.

The Coyotes consistently came up short from there on, despite having numerous chances. Perhaps as impressive as his final stat line -- one earned run on seven hits with six strikeouts -- was Wright's ability to work out of jams. The Coyotes had runners reach base in every inning except the seventh but came up empty in every frame but the first.

"We wanted to run him as far as we could," Cheff said, "and we were just hoping we could get him in under 120 pitches and get a complete game. So yeah, it was what we wanted to see from him."

Wright was helped out defensively by catcher Dan Morrow. Morrow caught courtesy runner Alex Tiede attempting to steal in the second inning and stopped numerous balls in the dirt to keep runners from moving up on the basepaths.

"He blocked more balls tonight than some guys see in a season," Cheff said. "There's not many catchers who would have blocked as many balls as well as Morrow did tonight. That made things really easy for Wright."

Other than Wright's performance and the final score, there wasn't much to brag about from L-C's perspective. The Warriors collected only four hits on the night, but still flourished on the scoreboard thanks to seven walks, six hit batters and five Albertson errors.

"They gave us a lot, we didn't earn a lot," Cheff said.

"We didn't make the plays defensively," Albertson coach Shawn Humberger said. "We got a good starting pitching performance -- didn't make the plays defensively. We created enough scoring opportunities to win the game, and we didn't get the clutch hits."

L-C poked its first run across the plate in the third inning. leadoff batter Matt Vogel was hit by a pitch and then stole second. Antoine McLeod slapped a single to right field to move him around to third, and Vogel came in to score soon after on a wild pitch by Coyote starter Matt Bergstrom.

The Warriors took advantage of more Albertson miscues in the fifth inning. Another hit batter started things of for L-C as Morrow stepped in front of a Bergstrom offering. McLeod reached on an error one batter later, and with runner on second and third, Joey Dyche lined a shot right back at Bergstrom. The ball bounced of Bergstrom's leg, but after fielding the ricochet cleanly Bergstrom tossed the ball past the first baseman and into right field, allowing Morrow to score easily.

The situation quickly worsened for Albertson. Right fielder Zach Park picked up Bergstrom's errant toss and tried to throw out McLeod, who had rounded third and was streaking for home. But Park's throw went wide of catcher Nate Freese as McLeod crossed the plate, allowing Dyche to score as well.

"We gave them some runs just by not playing catch," Humberger said.

The Warriors added four more runs in the eighth inning as Dyche hit an RBI double, and Brandon Morris came through with a bases-loaded single that drove in another pair.

L-C faces Albertson again tonight at 6:30 before traveling to Caldwell for Saturday and Sunday games against the same squad.

NOTES -- L-C pitcher Carlos Fisher may not pitch this week as he is absent from the team because of an illness in the family, Cheff said. ... Dyche's double in the seventh inning extended his hitting streak to nine games and kept him at .500 for the season.