Naches Valley's Ethan Flory, Brandon Gillespie and Thomas Wilcox show their team's Class 1A state championship trophy to fans after beating Kalama at County Stadium on Saturday.   KRIS HOLLAND/ Yakima Herald-Republic

 Third time's a charm
for Naches Valley
 
Rangers hold off seventh-inning Kalama rally, win 8-6

By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

So they made four errors, including three during a perilous second inning in which it must have seemed to some that the sky was once again falling on the Naches Valley Rangers.

But guess what?

This NV team, anchored by a corps of five seniors who had endured the agony of defeat in the most cruel extreme two years ago, and had again fallen short in the Class 1A final four last season, responded.

This NV team made a monstrous play to limit damage in the aforementioned frame, then scored six times in its half of the inning.

This NV team would produce two more gigantic defensive gems, and it would fight through one last bobble to leave the tying run at second base in the last inning and then experience the euphoria of dogpiling on the pitcher's
mound -- a ritual reserved for champions only.

"It feels ... exhilarating," Ethan Flory said once the initial celebration of the Rangers' 8-6 state title conquest of Kalama had subsided at Yakima County Stadium.

"That's a good way to put it," said fellow senior Adam Ranger, his sweat-soaked jersey and ear-to-ear smile matching Flory's.

Vindicating, perhaps, too.

Because in the 2007 title game against Chimacum at Wenatchee, Naches Valley was within one out of the championship only to have an error allow the tying run to score, and the Cowboys went on to a 4-2 win.

"You'll notice that in this game, after we made those three errors, we came right back and scored six," said coach Bill Walker. "And in the seventh, after J.R. Weigel (NV shortstop) short-armed the ball a little bit on a play that could easily have been a base hit, he wanted the next one.

"That's the way this team has fought back from '07. We talk about '07."

Now they'll talk about how pitcher Thomas Wilcox fielded a popped-up suicide squeeze bunt with the bases loaded and one out in the second, then calmly threw to Chris Walker at third for a rally-killing double play.

They'll talk about how after Kalama's Nick LaRoy, a left-handed pitching phenom who had no-hit the Rangers in last year's semifinal, singled and stole second to represent the tying in the fifth. And of how Flory ran down a fly ball in right-center, then fired a laser to cut down the fleet-footed
LaRoy at third for another DP.

And they'll talk about how the Chinooks put runners at second and third with one out in the sixth, only to have Weigel field a grounder and look the runner back to third, then throw to Ranger at first. Ranger, then, saw the runner break from third and threw home to catcher Brandon Gillespie, who tagged him out in a rundown.

Failure to complete any of those plays might have swung the balance decisively in Kalama's favor.

It might have rendered moot Naches Valley's 11-batter, five-hit second in which No. 9-hitter Cody Johns executed a textbook suicide squeeze bunt to score one run, Flory singled to bring home another and Wilcox doubled to plate two more.

Then, after coming up empty on scoring chances in the fourth and fifth, the Rangers got their final two on an RBI double by Gillespie and a run-scoring single by Ranger in the seventh.

Wilcox, at 2-for-3, was the lone NV player with multiple hits while LaRoy was 3-for-3.

Many expected the left-hander to pitch, since he'd served as the designated hitter in Kalama's 3-0 Friday win over Cashmere.

But after LaRoy, author of three no-hitters and a 21-strikeout game this season, stretched in the Chinooks bullpen, coach Len Hiatt summoned senior right-hander Robby Sanders to warm up. An arm ailment apparently relegated the junior standout, Kalama's cleanup hitter, to right field.

But none of that matters now.

This NV team might have messed up a few of the little plays Saturday, but it made every big one with uncommon precision and poise.

And it now carries the only title it deserves -- that of a state champion.

Kalama 7th: Walker grounds to short, reaches on throwing error; Sanders singles to center; LaRoy flies out to left; Slunaker RBI single to left; Sutherby flies out to right, Sanders advances to third; Slunaker steals second; Pollock grounds out to short. One run, two hits, one error, two runners left on base.    

Naches Valley 6th: Mills singles to left; Wilcox singles to left; Gillespie RBI double, courtesy runner Molnar thrown out 9-4-2 at plate; Ranger RBI single to center; Weigel flies out to center; Walker walks; Putas walks; Johns strikes out. Two runs, four hits, no errors, three runners left on base.   

Kalama 6th: Pollock strikes out; Tapley swinging-bunt single; McVicker double to left; Neal grounds out to short, Tapley run down 6-3-2 to end inning. No runs, two hits, no errors, one runner left on base.

Naches Valley 5th: Walker strikes out looking; Putas walks; Putas steals second, takes third on catcher's throwing error; Johns grounds to second, Putas thrown out at plate; Flory flies out to left. No runs, no hits, one error, one runner left on base.

Kalama 5th: LaRoy singles to short; LaRoy steals second; Slunaker flies out to center, LaRoy thrown out attempting to advance to third; Sutherby grounds out to third. No runs, one hit, no errors, no runners left on base.

Naches Valley 4th: Mills walks; Wilcox walks; Gillespie strikes out; Ranger strikes out; Weigel grounds out to short. No runs, no hits, no errors, two runners left on base.

Kalama 4th: Sutherby singles to center; Pollock singles to center; Tapley singles to right; McVicker RBI groundout to second; Neal RBI groundout to second; Walker RBI single to left; Sanders grounds into 6-4 fielder's choice. Three runs, four hits, no errors, one runner left on base.  

Naches Valley 3rd: Walker flies out to left; Putas hit by pitch; Johns sacrifice bunt, Putas advances to second; Flory strikes out. No runs, no hits, no errors, one runner left on base.

Kalama 3rd: Neal strikes out; Walker grounds out to pitcher; Sanders homers to left; LaRoy singles to center; Slunaker flies out to left. One run, two hits, no errors, one runner left on base. 

Naches Valley 2nd: Ranger grounds out to pitcher; Weigel singles to right; Walker singles inside third-base line; Putas walks; Johns RBI bunt single; Flory RBI single to left; Mills RBI grounder to second, second baseman bobbles ball; Johns scores, runners advance on wild pitch; Wilcox two-run double to left-center; Gillespie walks; Ranger strikes out looking; Weigel grounds out to short. Six runs, five hits, one error, two runners left on base.      

Kalama 2nd: LaRoy singles to left; LaRoy advances to second on errant throw to first by pitcher; LaRoy steals third, scores on errant throw to third by catcher; Slunaker grounds out to third; Sutherby reaches on booted ball at second; Pollock hit by pitch; Tapley walks; McVicker pops up bunt back to pitcher, Sutherby forced out at third. One run, one hit, three errors, one runner left on base. 

Naches Valley: Flory pops out to first; Mills walks; Wilcox strikes out; Gillespie flies out to right. No runs, no hits, no errors, one runner left on base.  

Kalama 1st: Neal pops out to second; Walker strikes out; Sanders grounds out to third. No runs, no hits, no errors, no runners left on base.

Starting lineups
   Kalama -- Neal, 3b; Walker, 2b; Sanders, p; LaRoy, rf; Slunaker, ss; Sutherby, cf; Pollock, 1b; Tapley, lf; McVicker, c.
   Naches Valley -- Flory, cf; Mills, rf; Wilcox, p; Gillespie, c; Ranger, 1b; Weigel, ss; Walker, 3b; Putas, lf; Johns, 2b.