Walking Around - by Garrett Mills

    Coming into this game, both teams knew this would be a dogfight. Each side had great pitching and hitting. On Pbr_washington, they have the power rankings. The Bombers are number six in the state, and the Islanders are ranked number five in the state. Starting on the mound for the Bombers was #11, the left-hander Trey Bush. On the opposing side, Mercer had #9 Austin Cupic. Some key players from both sides are also future college rivals. Richlands own Kooper Jones, batting third and working behind the dish, committed to Washington University. Mercer's own Max Clark batting third and is the big man playing first, committed to the University of Washington. 

Photo courtesy of Lit Media Productions.

    The home team made their way onto the field, Bush gave up a weak hit to the leadoff hitter, but Jase Voplensky was right there to scoop it up, making the quick out at first. The next batter had an infield single, a questionable call by the umpires. Two outs and a couple of walks later, Bush found himself in trouble. The bases were loaded, and Bush pitched a fly ball to center fielder John Corbin, getting him out of the inning. The Bomber on offense now, Vopalensky went quick to have an infield single. Trying to pick off Vopalensky, there was an overthrow; he put on the jets and made it all the way to third. Jones had an RBI out too short, and the Bombers were up 1-0. 

    The second and top half of the third innings were quiet. Both teams went three up and three down. Both teams had some hard-hit balls, but they are just right to people. In the bottom of the third inning, with one out, Drew Johnson started the hitting party. He had a perfectly placed bunt to the left side of the pitcher in no man's land; Johnson beat out the throw safely, making it to first. Now with two outs, Corbin hits an RBI double. Johnson first unhooks the trailer making it safely from first to home. Jones Comes up to the plate with runners in scoring position again. He hits a single with the center fielder overthrowing the cut-off man trying to get Corbin coming home. Jones makes it to second, and Corbin scores, Bombers are up 3-0. 

Photo courtesy of Lit Media Productions.

    In the top of the 4th, Mercer's number five Cutter Werdel singles, and an overthrow moves him to second. Tyler Gilroy hit a sac fly into right, putting the Islanders first run on the board. Another sac fly with a great catch by Drew Johnson, but the islanders still scored. Coach Richardson of the Bombers comes out of the dugout to pull Bush, and Vopalensky comes in to relieve. Bush had a good outing giving up one earned run and 2 strikeouts. This is what he said his fastball and curveball were working very well. Jones and he mixed the pitches and location up really well. Vopalensky comes in with 2 pitches. The Bombers are out of this inning. The Bottom half of the inning got off to a quick start with a single by Charlie Johns and Ben Lehman. With runners on the corners, the Bombers look in an excellent spot to score. Mercer gets three straight outs and leaves runners stranded. 

    In the top of the 5th inning, this is where it went all downhill for the Bombers. Mercer started the inning with two walks. An infield single by Alex Henderson scores one. With another walk, the bases were loaded for Vopalensky. Another runner walked to score for mercer. This was enough for Coach Richardson to bring in John Simons to pitch. The first batter he faces, he walks in another run. Russel Nguyen hits a sac fly to the right; runners are on second and third. With another walk and a wild pitch, one more scores, and runners at the corners. A single leaves the bases loaded, and Clark hits a long one, scoring two. Richardson comes out of the dugout again to pull Simons and puts in Corbin. He hits his first batter but pitches a ground ball double play to get out of the inning. The Bombers now trail 10-3. The game didn't go anywhere in the bottom of the 5th, 6th, and 7th. Mercer scored two more runs, and the Bombers scored only one more, with a final score of 12-4. The Richland dugout was quiet for the rest of the game, and with every pitch, you could hear Mercer's dugout from anywhere. 

    If you were to look at the box score, the 12-4 score doesn't tell you the whole story. The Bombers had 11 hits to the Islanders' only ten hits. So if the Bombers managed to outhit the Islanders, how did Mercer manage to win? Richland walked 12 batters, with Mercer strung a couple of hits here and there. The Bombers could only get a few hits in a row to move runners around. They left quite a few runners on base. Vopalensky and the Bombers said, “We hope to use this game as a teaching tool and get a bounce-back win.” The Richland Bombers will play their next game at home against the Kennewick Lions. The Lions are ranked one spot behind the Bombers in the RPI rankings at #7, and they are last year's MCC champions.