Cedarcrest tops Selah
in sloppy title game
 
By SCOTT SANDSBERRY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Sometimes baseball isn't pretty. It isn't always a thing of beauty, of clean pick-ups and crisp throws to first. Sometimes it can be ugly.

But it still counts.

On a day of baseball ugliness -- a dozen errors, three hit batsmen, a frustrated catcher ejected for finally commenting to the home plate umpire, "That's ridiculous"
-- the Cedarcrest Red Wolves held on for a 10-6 victory
over Selah in the Class 2A state baseball championship game Saturday night.

It marked the fifth time the Vikings have reached the state final only to lose, and made them 0-for-10 in trips to the state's final four.

"We told the kids, the reason you hurt so bad right now is because you care so much," Selah coach Mike Archer said after seeing the Vikings' season end with a 24-2 record.

"I'm proud as hell of them. They're tough guys and
they're taking it hard. And I feel bad for them."

But the final outcome wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been after the fourth inning, when the Vikings committed four errors and gave up seven runs. Already down 3-0 after the first inning on Cameron Padron's bases-clearing double, that put Selah in a 10-0 hole the Vikings couldn't quite dig themselves out of.

"We gave up that seven-spot, and that hurt," Archer said. "It would have been nice if we could have done a little bit more damage control there, got out of it with five instead of seven. Then it's a little closer, maybe a different game."

As it turned out, the Red Wolves (23-5) were getting primed for a little meltdown of their own, committing five errors in the fifth inning as Selah scored five runs. But the Vikings left the bases loaded that inning, and even though Jake Fife had a huge 4-for-4 night at the plate with a pair of doubles, nobody was ever in scoring position when he came up. And Selah ended up leaving 12 runners on base.

"That was a crazy game," Cedarcrest coach Scott Goldsberry said. "We made it a little more interesting than we wanted to. As long as I've been coach, I can't remember any of our teams committing eight errors in a game -- let along eight errors in a game we won."

Travis Cook drove in four runs with a pair of doubles for Cedarcrest, while Tommy Edwards had three hits and a pair of runs batted in.

"It feels great," Goldsberry said. "I felt like we had to break through that semifinal-game barrier" -- the Red Wolves having lost in both the 2007 and 2008 semifinals -- "and once we did it, our guys felt like they had a job to
do. And they did it."

Selah 7th: Porter walks; K. Fickes grounds into fielder's choice, Porter forced at second 1-6; A. Fickes pops out to right; Fife doubles to right-center; Schmidt flies out to left. No runs, one hit, no errors, two runners left on base.

Cedarcrest 7th: Elwell strikes out; Bishop flies out to left; Edwards walks; Edwards takes second on a balk; Coble lines out to left. No runs, no hits, no errors, one runner left on base.

Selah 6th: Windsor flies out to center; Lindemann strikes out; Snider walks; Dallman flies out to right. No runs, no hits, no errors, one runner left on base.

Cedarcrest 6th: Chittenden walks; Padron strikes out looking; Cook flies out to right; Swanson pops out to catcher. No runs, no hits, no errors, one runner left on base.

Selah 5th: Fife doubles to left; Schmidt RBI double to left; Windsor walks; Lindemann strikes out; Snider grounds into fielder's choice, Windsor safe at second on throwing error, Schmidt scores; Dallman strikes out; Porter RBI singles to center, Windsor advances to third on fielding error by centerfielder, scores when centerfielder throws ball into third-base dugout, Porter advances to third; Bishop replaces Padron on mound; K. Fickes grounds to second, safe on throwing error, Porter scores; A. Fickes grounds to third, safe and advances to second on throwing error, K. Fickes advances to third; Fife draws intentional walk; Schmidt strikes out. Five runs, three hits, five errors, three runners left on base.    

Cedarcrest 5th: Edwards grounds out to short; Coble grounds out to third; Bunce grounds out to first. No runs, no hits, no errors, no runners left on base.

Selah 4th: Snider grounds to third, reaches on fielding error; Dallman grounds to short, reaches on fielding error; Porter grounds out to first; K. Fickes strikes out looking; A. Fickes strikes out looking. No runs, no hits, two errors, two runners left on base.

Cedarcrest 4th: Swanson walks; Elwell grounds to first, reaches on fielding error; Bishop sacrifice bunt to pitcher; Edwards two-run single to center; Coble singles to center; Bunce grounds to third, safe on throwing errors; Chittenden two-run single to left; Douglass replaces Windsor on mound; runners advance on wild pitch; Padron strikes out; Bunce scores on catcher's throwing error to second base; Cook RBI double to left; Swanson grounds to second, Bunce scores on booted grounder; Elwell hit by pitch; Bishop flies out to left. Seven runs, four hits, four errors, two runner left on base.    

Selah 3rd: K. Fickes grounds out to first; A. Fickes infield single over second base; Fife infield single to third; Schmidt flies out to right; Windsor RBI single to right; Lindemann struck out. One run, three hits, no errors, two runners left on base.

Cedarcrest 3rd: Chittenden strikes out; Padron flies out to left; Cook strikes out. No runs, no hits, no errors, no runners left on base.

Selah 2nd: Lindemann singles to right; Lindemann advances to second on wild pitch; Snider flies out to right, Lindemann thrown out in double play attempting to advance to third; Dallman grounds to pitcher, safe on throwing error; Porter grounds out to second. No runs, one hit, one error, one runner left on base.

Cedarcrest 2nd: Elwell grounds out to second; Bishop singles to center; Edwards doubles to right; Coble grounds out to third; Bunce strikes out looking. No runs, two hits, no errors, two runners left on base.

Selah 1st: A. Fickes lines out to second; Fife singles to center; Schmidt strikes out; Windsor flies out to center. No runs, one hit, no errors, one runner left on base.

Cedarcrest 1st: Edwards singles to left; Coble sacrifice bunt to pitcher; Bunce hit by pitch; Chittenden strikes out; Padron hit by pitch; Cook three-run double to center; Swanson grounds out to short. Three runs, two hits, no errors, one runner left on base.

Starting lineups
   Cedarcrest -- Edwards, 3b; Coble, ss; Bunce, dh (for Wilen, lf); Chittenden, c; Padron, p; Cook, cf; Swanson, 1b; Elwell, 2b; Bishop, rf.
   Selah -- A. Fickes, 2b; Fife, ss; Schmidt, dh (for Douglass, 3b); Windsor, p; Lindemann, rf; Snider, c; Dallman, lf; Porter, 1b; K. Fickes, cf.