On Friday, the Sweets walked it off in extra innings. On Saturday, the Black Bears rallied for a three-run top of the ninth to even the series. That set up Sunday’s Father’s Day rubber match on a beautiful evening at Borleske Stadium.

It was the Black Bears who struck first. In the top of the second, Gavin Poffenroth singled, followed by a Sam Davidson base hit to put two aboard. After a flyout, Will Jesske singled to load the bases. An unearned run came in on a sacrifice fly, as Poffenroth crossed the plate. Sweets starting pitcher Alex Jennings limited the damage, getting out of the inning trailing 1-0.

Walla Walla’s bats broke through in the fourth. Trevor Tse led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Troy Sanders reached on a fielder’s choice, with Tse erased at third. Tanner Kern worked a walk, setting the table for Dominic Cadiz, who crushed a three-run home run to left-center — his third of the year — giving the Sweets a 3-1 lead. Cadiz, a UCLA commit, boosted his batting average to .432 on the season. The rally continued as Landon Young drew a walk, stole both second and third, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Billy Scaldeferri. The Sweets left the inning up 4-1.

Cowlitz answered with a Matt Priest solo homer in the fifth to trim the lead to 4-2. In the sixth, Jennings exited after five innings of work, allowing one earned run with four strikeouts. Jared Glenn took over on the mound. After an out, Davidson singled, and Paxton Bigby reached on a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Jesske stepped up again and launched a two-run homer to left, tying the game at 4-4.

Walla Walla reclaimed the lead in the eighth. Kern flew out to center for the first out, but Cadiz kept the inning alive with a single. Young followed with a double to left, putting runners at second and third. Scaldeferri’s sacrifice fly brought in Cadiz, and Young moved to third. After an Andrew Demianew walk, Nikhil Beasley delivered a clutch two-out RBI single to score Young, making it 6-4.

In the ninth, Trevor Stowe came in to close and slammed the door on the Black Bears, sealing the win.

With the victory, the Sweets improved to 5-1 at Borleske Stadium, remain second in the South Division, and claimed their second consecutive home series win.

Walla Walla has Monday off before opening a three-game homestand against the Kamloops NorthPaws on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m., with the game broadcast available on the Walla Walla Sweets YouTube channel.