Northwest League Championship Glog

The Spokane Indians are going for their third league championship in six years tonight in the first game of the NWL Championship Series. Follow along with all the playoff action with HomeTeam Sports as editor Brandon Hansen blogs during the game.

9:19 — Strike out. Game over.

9:15 — Another strikeout. This time by Kaase. Indians down to their last out.

9:13 — Bolden is called out on strikes. He’s not happy. And by not happy I mean he could punch a baby right now.

9:12 — Edwin Quiratre is pitching for S-K. He’s a human 6′2″ which cant be said for the rest of the giants that make up the Volcanoes pitching staff.

9:11 — Full count.

9:09 — First up, Jared Bolden for the Indians. Hes hitting .263 with 28 RBIs. The rally towels are out again. The atmosphere from this crowd is great. Haven’t felt this since 2005 — when the Indians won the NWL championship.

9:08 — It’s strange how sixty degrees can feel cold.

9:07 — Flyout to center. The Indians have a half inning to get back into this thing.

9:06 — Foul ball into the dugout, thats always entertaining. Schlecht walks the first batter. One on, two outs. Top Nine.

9:05 — Two runs don’t seem like a whole lot with the lineup the Indians carry. Lets hope that Schlecht can get them through the ninth.

9:03 — When I transferred down to the field box, I lost my connection. I do have it back at the top of the ninth. Game is still 5-3 Volcanoes. Third baseman Matt West just threw out the first batter that Spokane faced on a grounder. He just threw out the second one as well on another grounder.

8:54 — Bottom Eight, Indians up to bat.

8:53 — DOUBLE PLAY INDIANS. And they’re rolling. Two more innings to do something magical. Their bullpen has really stepped it up in this game allowing just one run. Knock off that rough outing by Boscan and the Indians are in charge of this game.

8:52 — Caleb Curry singles to centerfield for Salem-Keizer. 

8:50 — Ryan Schlecht is now pitching for Spokane in the top of the eighth, he has a sparkling 1.48 ERA. Against the first batter, he strikes them out.

8:48 — Strikeout to end the inning for Spokane. But we have ourselves one hell of a game.

8:48 — For those of you wondering what the Grotto is, it’s the right-field group area porch with seats.

8:47 — Looking down the Volcanoes’ pitching roster, they could probably beat Team USA at basketball.

8:44 — Volcanoes 5, Indians 3 and they’re bringing in another huge pitcher. Seriously, where do they find these guys? Justin Fitzgerald for Salem-Keizer looks like he could play a goon in professional wrestling.

8:44 — FRY HITS A GROTTO HOME RUN!!! HE HITS A GROTTO-SHOT!! GO CRAZY FOLKS!! GO CRAZY!!!!

8:42 — The catcher is going to visit the mound. I’ve always wondered what the catcher does when he doesn’t speak the same language as the pitcher. This isn’t the case here, but I mean, what do they talk about? Do they use hand signals? Text message one another?

8:40 — Two outs, Paisano up to bat and he bloops to right to score Bolden. We have our first Indians run of the game! 5-1. It ain’t over untill it’s over. Cue the soundbyte from Animal House. Eric Fry is up for the Indians with Paisano on first.

8:38 — Jared Bolden walks to first. And we have baserunner. Don’t be jumping the gun yet. But this is something. Let’s hope coverboy Jake Kaase can do some damage… WILD PITCH by Dan Runzler, Bolden goes to second. Followed by a groundout by Kaase to advance him to third.

8:36 — Kyle Higgins strikes out to start off the inning for the Indians. That’s seven strikeouts for Spokane.

8:35 — Again it wouldn’t be Spokane without “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.”

8:34 — I want some cracker jacks.

8:33 — Hurley strikes out the batter and we’re going to the bottom of the seventh. Let’s get ready for the seventh-inning stretch.

8:31 — Single to center. Baserunner from second scores. We have 5-0 Volcanoes.

8:30 — In a bizarre play, a grounder to the first baseman Dennis Guinn turns into a rundown tag out of the baserunner at third. Don’t ask me how. Worst base-running I’ve ever seen.

8:29 — And then walks one. So we have runners at the corners with one out. Jose Flores is 2-3 with two RBIs up to bat.

8:27 — Hurley strikes out a batter.

8:26 — Another wild pitch allowed him to advance to third. No outs.

8:25 — Wild pitch allows him to advance to second.

8:24 — Connor Gillaspie singles to lead off the top of the seventh for Salem-Keizer.

8:21 — Strike out by Hogan. End of the sixth. Even the rally cap didn’t help.

8:20 — Two outs and Doug Hogan is up. The catcher. I mean he’s the catcher, he has to come through.

8:19 — Matt West strikes out.

8:18 — Guinn is walked. Bases juiced. The Indians fans are juiced. We’ve got rally towels folks! 

8:16 — Dennis Guinn, who is hitting above .400 against Salem-Keizer is up to bat for Spokane. Ryna Donkers of Virtual Predictions fame has just predicted a wild pitch by Edens. We will see…

8:15 — They just yanked Reichard. And after deciphering the Egyptian hyrogliphics on the back of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes jerseys that qualify as numbers I have come to the conclusion that No. 6 Joseph Edens will come in for relief. 

8:13 — Double by Butler! Pasiano to third. One out, the crowd is getting into it now. Probably would have been a single if the outfielder didn’t bobble the ball and hussled a little but more.

8:12 — Pickoff attempts must be 150 percent more sucessful in Single A than the majors. Pasiano narrowly misses being thrown out at first. If it were me trying to get back to the back, I’d be out by a mile, but that’s because I’ve eaten over a half a bag of peanuts.

8:10– Reichard walks Paisano and then Fry flies out to deep center field. One out, one on, and Joey Butler is at the plate.

8:09 — Jonny Monell, the catcher, is okay folks. Give him a hand for walking it off.

8:08 — It appears that Reichard likes to not only beat up on other teams but his own teammates as well. A foul ball hit the catchers hand causing him to crumple behind the plate.

8:05 — Reichard is still on the mound for Salem-Keizer. Just waiting for this guy to wear down…

8:03 — Double play ends the inning for Spokane and we’re headed to the bottom of the sixth. Can’t say this enough, something has to happen for the Indians.

8:00 — A double by Salem-Kezier, which looked like the runner might be out at second, resulted in another Volcanoes hit. They have eight hits through five and one third innings.

7:59 — Hurley is 3-1 with a 3.29 ERA and has 40 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched. He starts the top the of the sixth with a strikeout.

7:56 — We’ve got a pitching change for the Indians. Trevor Hurley is warming up on the mound. That means Boscan will end the game with five innings pitched, seven hits, three earned runs. He walked one and struck out one respectively.

7:55 — Kaase fouls out to end the inning. We’re going to the top of the sixth inning and the Indians are simply running out of time to get some runs in this game.

7:55 — Flyout. That kind of hurt. Two outs, two on, bottom five. Jake Kaase is at the plate.

7:54 — Single by Kyle Higgins and the Indians have runners on second and first. Jared Bolden is up to bat now for Spokane. The life is back in Avista Stadium.

7:53 — And walked Doug Hogan.

7:51 — Bottom Five and I think Salem-Keizer pitcher Andy Reichard caused a small earthquake just by walking to the mound. Then he struck out Matt West.

7:50 — It’s not Spokane unless they play Thunderstruck by AC/DC.

7:48 — Groundout to end the inning. The Indians will try to get some offense going in the bottom of the fifth. They only have two hits now, which is going to have to change if they want to make any sort of progress against this 4-0 deficit.

7:47 — Fly out to right field. Two outs. And it’s starting to get cold out. In all my wisdom I forgot to grab a coat on my way out to the ballpark meaning that I’ll probably just have to have a salty pretzel to warm up.

7:44 — Two singles make it runners on second and first with one out. Here we go again.

7:43 — Popup by Salem-Keizer to beging the inning. One out in the top of the fifth.

7:40 — And I just saw that Avista Stadium has been named 2008 NWL Field of the Year. Congrats to head groundskeeper Brennan Prestley and crew. That is the eigth time since 1997 the field has earned that award. 

7:39 — Dennis Guinn pop fly to end the inning. Off to the Top of the Fifth.

7:36 — or Joey Bulter’s bat for a Spokane two-out single. Either one.

7:35 — I bet you Salem-Keizer’s mammouth pitcher would hit his head walking under the Monroe Street Bridge.

7:34 — Flyout, didn’t quite have the distance. Two outs, bottom fourth for the Indians.

7:33 — Pasiano grounds out bringing up Eric Fry, who I hear has hit the stadium clock on top of the outfield scoreboard before. Let’s hope he can do it again.

7:32 — Bottom four with the Indians up to bat. David Paisano who has been solid for the Indians all year is up to bat.

7:29 — Kaase makes an amazing running/behind-the-back/diving catch (how many adjectives have I use?). Followed by another popup to Kaase to end the inning. I just heard that the wet pitching mound may have played a factor in Boscan’s pitching. He’s got one strikeout through four innings.

7:27 — Fielder’s Choice gets the lead runner out. With the way Spokane has been hitting the ball, you’ve got to hope that the Volcanoes don’t get any more runs. Runner on first steals second, meaning a runner is in scoring position with one out.

7:25 — Top of the fourth inning and Spokane has gotten itself in quite a hole. And just as if the Salem-Keizer batter heard me typing that he singled to right field.

7:23 — Bolden grounds up bring Jake Kaase up to the plate, who also grounds out to end the inning.

7:21 — Kyle Higgins grounds out and the Indians have two more outs in the Inning. 4-0 Volcanoes. The Indians just got through the order. Jared Bolden is back up for Spokane.

7:19 — Fly out and we’re going to the bottom of the third inning. I hope the Indians can get something going on offense. With the way Boscan has been pitching Hulett may have to go to the Bullpen early.

7:17 — On a side note, the Spokane Interstate Fair is slowly getting ready in the background. That lends to the nice atmosphere of blinking lights and carnival rides in the background. Another fielder’s choice makes it 4-0 Volcanoes. Does anyone want an Elephant Ear?

7:15 — Broken bat fielders choice. Boscan is officially having a bad outing. 3-0 Volcanoes. 

7:14 — No outs by the way.

7:14 — Single up the middle for Salem-Keizer to lead off the inning. Followed by a double. Runners on third and second. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a situation.

7:11 — Switching innings to the top of third. In between innings I’m watching the paint-can stacking contest that the Indians put on. Basically two people try to stack cans as high as they can and the person with the most cans wins. There’s a strategy to it but it seems that ever person stacking has victory in hand and then they try to fit one too many cans on top and everything comes tumbling down.

7:09 — I wish I had the stats on Indians’ catcher Doug Hogan with runners in scoring position but the stat crew tv-set in the Spokane press box escapes me. However, he does have 30 RBIs in short season which isn’t bad at all. The .225 BA is a bit of a downer though… and Hogan flies out.

7:08 — Joey Butler steals second base bringing a runner into scoring position.

7:07 — Flyout to center in the bottom of the second. And then Matt West also hits a high pop fly for the second out of the inning. I don’t want to say that the Indians are swinging for the fences because they’re not even getting to the warning track.

7:05 — Joey Butler singles to center for Spokane.

7:04 — I can’t get over the size of the Salem-Keizer pitcher. I mean does he even fit on the bus?

7:01 — I think the stadium clock on the scoreboard is at least ten minutes fast or perhaps my laptop clock is slow. Pop fly to the short stop in center field to end the inning. Four Indians converged on the fly ball and I though we could possibly have a repeat from the opening scene of Angels in the Outfield where Danny Glover goes “There’s a thing called talent — they don’t have it!” Luckily, the Indians have won 51 games, they do indeed have talent.

6:59 — Boscan got two quick outs before giving up a single. Runner on first. Two outs.

6:56 — My nachos went down quick, now I’m working on a bag of peanuts. The lights just turned on, and I’m thinking about getting more soda. Is there anything better than ballpark food? Really in any sort of public setting other than a restuarant where can you find better food? The Fair — that stuff is probably toxic. Indoor sports — good luck with the carney’s winter job. The Bus Plaza — Oh god.

6:55 — And then the Indians’ Eric Fry promptly lines out to the second-baseman. It would have been a webgem except the guy was standing right in the path of the ball.

6:54 — Things are starting to fall apart for the big guy. He just allowed a two-out walk.

6:53 — Struck out the second batter.

6:51 — He can pitch too. Struck out the leadoff hitter for Spokane. Reichard is 3-2 and has a 2.87 ERA with 63 strikeouts.

6:49 — Andy Reichard on the mound for Salem-Keizer. He’s not a small guy.

6:47 — Harmless flyball to center field and the Indians are out of the Inning. Boscan got into a pinch but got out of it with minimal damage.

6:46 — Good play by Kaase to get the lead runner out at third. Two outs and the Indians might get out of this inning before 8 o’clock.

6:44 — And Indians bring the Rally Clap. I’m eating some Rally peanuts.

6:43 — Jose Flores hits a blooper into right center field to drive in a run. 2-0 Salem-Keizer. We’ve got a mound visit and a first half inning that could get up to a half-hour long.

6:41 — Fielders choice off of a Mike Loberg runner brings in a run. One out with runners on first and third.

6:40 — Boscan gets the pity applause for throwing a strike. If I were a pitcher I don’t know if this would help or demoralize me.

6:39 — And then he hits the third one. Bases loaded. No outs. What a way to start the game.

6:38 — Boscan walks the second batter, runners on second and first. No outs.

6:35 — Grounder to shortstop Jacob Kaase — THROWING ERROR. Not a good start for the Indians, considering Kaase was on the cover of HomeTeam Sports. Cover curse?

6:33 — First pitch by Spokane’s Wilfredo Boscan. Salem-Keizer is going to have their hands full with this guy. He went 9-1 with a 3.12 ERA this year for the Indians.

6:31 — I’ve give it between a 7 and an 8.

6:25 — National Anthem is about to be played… I’ll give you a rating when it’s over.

6:24 — And they have the rally towels up, this is going to be one heck of a game.

6:21 — So I’ve just taken a quick look around the stadium and the crowd doesn’t look big, but all the die-hard Indians fans seem to be out here. You know the ones that remember every lineup that a Spokane team has fielded since 1985?