Mt. Spokane Falls to the Bombers - By Talon Jones

With the final game of Richlands preseason outing, the Bombers look to start hot heading into the regular season with wins over Summer and Mt. Spokane. The Richland Bombers took on the Mt. Spokane Wildcats in the jamboree closer in a suspected thriller. The game did turn out to be a thriller, but only if you're a Bomber fan. With a dominant win over The Sumner Spartans, the wildcats were eager for another against the Bombers. The Wildcats ended their previous game in the 6th with a run-rule, beating the Spartans 11-1. The same thing happened in this game; instead of Mt. Spokane doing the beating, it was Richland. The Bombers beat the Wildcats 10-0 in the 5th inning with a dominant performance by Bennett and company.

Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ )

The Bombers began the game in the field with number six Dallas Bennett on the mound. The Bombers held a quick inning only allowing 4 batters to the plate, Bennett walked the first, followed by 2 quick field outs and a redeemable strikeout by Bennett to put the top of the first away. The Wildcats came out with number 10 Brayten Ayers on the mound, looking to keep up the momentum from last game. Ayers did that with a strikeout on John Simons to open the inning. After a quick field out, Ayers would walk 2 straight. With runners on first and second, Mt. Spokane ended the inning by throwing out John Corbin on his route to second base.

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The second inning is where the Bombers' turning point happened. To start the inning, Richland shifted the momentum in their favor with 3 up and 3 down. With that momentum, the Sophomores for the green and gold made a statement with back-to-back doubles, First by number 26 Michael Revell, followed by Hayden Galloway and Brody Bocek. These hits alone put the Bombers up 2-0 with no outs and a runner on second. After a fellow Bomber was walked, Simons redeemed his first At bat with an RBI single down the 3rd baseline, scoring Bocek. With the tide in favor of the Bombers, New Mexico State commit Chris Daniels felt the need to shift it more. After watching a few go by, Daniels nuked one dead center and over the wall for a 3-run home run, the first of many for Daniels, putting the Bombers up 6. After an out by the Wildcats, they looked to close the inning on Pitcher Dallas Bennett, but he had other plans, such as sending one to the left-center fence and reeling in yet another double for the Bombers. With just one more single by Revell, Mt. Spokane finally put the inning away with a strikeout on Bocek.

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With 3 quick outs to begin the 3rd inning, the Bombers kept their momentum heading into the box. A new Wildcat also took the mound, number 15 Jake Lenberger. Rayce Reeves led the at-bat for Richland, and he would walk alongside the next batter, John Simons. Junior shortstop Carter Upmeyer would load the bases with a single, setting up powerhouse Chris Daniels to clear them. Daniels, however, would hit a ground ball to the shortstop to create a double play for the Wildcats and get them closer to ending the inning. But with the double play came an RBI for Daniels and a score for the Bombers, marking up the score 7-0 in the 3rd. With a runner on 3rd, Corbin popped a ball into the right field, where it would find the grass to score Simons and get the Green and Gold an 8-0 lead. This would be the end of this inning fun as the Wildcats walk the next, but capitalize and get the next batter out to end the 3rd.

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Richland started the 4th inning a bit iffy after an error by second baseman John Corbin allowed a runner on first. But after a fly out to shortstop Upmeyer, Daniels made two athletic fielding plays, with a diving catch for 2 outs and a leaping snag for 3 to finish off the top of the 4th. The Bombers scored their final runs in this inning after an error by Mt. Spokane allowed Hayden Galloway's single to turn into 2 stolen bases, putting him in 3rd and scoring position. Rayce would follow this up with an RBI single to score Galloway and put the Bombers up 9-0. Upmeyer would finish off the scoring for the day with an RBI single up the middle to score Rayce Reeves and lift the lead to 10 for the Green and Gold. The Wildcats would then get a quick out to end the 4th inning.

The Bombers would close this game out in the 5th inning with a run rule and a score of 10-0 Richland. Bennett topped off his no-hitter with a strikeout to end the dominant performance by the Bombers.