Out of the gate, Sweets starting pitcher Issac Hallam ran into trouble. Bryce Clavon singled and stole second, and Cannon Reeder walked to put two aboard. After a fielder’s choice and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, Teddy Tokheim cleared them with a grand slam to right, his first home run of the season, giving the Elks a 4-0 lead.

Bend added two more runs in the second inning. Ryder Manale led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Vinny Salvione. Clavon then singled, stole two bases and came home on a Makoa Sniffen RBI single to make it 6-0.

In the third, Auggie Lopez hit a solo home run to stretch the lead to 7-0. But the Sweets weren’t ready to fold. In the fourth, Dominic Cadiz singled and Landon Young walked to put two on. Billy Scaldeferri added a single to load the bases before Owen Estabrook drove in Cadiz with an RBI single. Troy Sanders followed with a run-scoring single, and Nate Stiveson capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to right to plate Scaldeferri, cutting the deficit to 7-3.

The Elks responded immediately. Salvione and Clavon led off the bottom half with singles, and Reeder doubled to left-center to score Salvione. After a two-out walk to Tokheim, a throwing error by Sanders at shortstop allowed two unearned runs to score, pushing Bend’s lead to 10-3.

Cadiz opened the fifth inning with a solo home run to left, his team-leading sixth of the season. After two quick outs, Scaldeferri drew a walk and Estabrook singled. Sanders followed with a base hit to load the bases, and Stiveson walked to force in a run. A ground ball by Cole Rogers was mishandled by the shortstop, allowing Estabrook to score and trimming the Elks’ lead to 10-6.

In the sixth, Gunner Geile crushed a solo home run, his second of the season, to make it a three-run game.

The Sweets kept clawing back in the eighth. Trevor Tse walked to open the inning and scored on a triple to right-center from Geile. On the next play, Geile hustled home on a shallow popup to center, cutting the deficit to 10-9.

Despite the rally, Bend added a key insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Walla Walla was unable to generate a scoring chance in the ninth and dropped the series opener 11-9.

First pitch for Game 2 is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Friday, with coverage beginning at 6:20 on the Walla Walla Sweets Mixlr channel.