Walla Walla was coming off of a series sweep and a Battle of the Basin victory over the Yakima Valley Pippins and had an opportunity to win their fourth straight. However out of the gate there were signs of another pitching duel.

In the first two innings both offenses did not scrape across a run. Then in the third inning despite Landon Young getting to second base he was stranded to end the frame. Young ended with three hits.

In the home half of the third inning Cowlitz took advantage of a defensive miscue to get on the board. Holt Williams reached on an error and advanced to second on the play. Braeden Lundberg moved Williams to third with a sacrifice bunt for the first out. Matt Priest then grounded out to third, bringing home Williams for an unearned run and a 1-0 Black Bears lead. 

In the fifth inning the Sweets finally got to Cowlitz starting pitcher Matt Champion. Landon Young followed with another single and advanced to second on an error by the left fielder. After a pitching change, Dominic Cadiz reached on an error and a wild pitch during Owen Estabrook’s at-bat allowed Young to come home for an unearned run but the Sweets could not further capitalize on the opportunity heading into the bottom of the fifth tied 1-1.

In the home half, Cowlitz broke through. Jack Meissner singled and stole second before Holt Williams hit another single, moving him to third. Braeden Lundberg doubled to left-center to drive in Meissner, and an error off the bat of Matt Priest brought in Williams. Finnegan Stewart added a sac fly to score Lundberg, before a strikeout and groundout ended the inning with three runs across for Cowlitz and a 4-1 lead.

With two outs in the sixth the Sweets started to chip away. Troy Sanders singled and Hunter Komine walked, then both moved up on a wild pitch. With two runners in scoring position Landon Young followed with a single to score Sanders, but the inning ended on a groundout by Dominic Cadiz with the Sweets trailing 4-2. 

The score would stay that way for the remainder of the game but not because of the lack of opportunities. The biggest of them all came in the ninth inning. Dominic Cadiz walked, Tanner Kern reached on an error, and Owen Estabrook followed with a walk to load the bases with just one out, but the rally was cut short when Billy Scaldeferri bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and the ballgame. 

The Sweets are now 2-2 this season against the Black Bears. A chance to even this series and take the overall lead over Cowlitz awaits tomorrow at 6:35. Listen to the full game on the Walla Walla Sweets Mixlr channel.