Elks Hit a Wall Against Walla Walla in Road Opener
The Elks once again found several opportunities at the plate but failed to make the most of them. (Andrew Green)
Walla Walla, WA.- The Bend Elks failed to crack through and shut down the Walla Walla Sweets Tuesday hitting several bumps en route to a 6-2 defeat in the series opener at Borleske stadium.
The weed in the Elks' loss in the series finale against Portland rerooted itself in Walla Walla, with Bend stranding 13 base runners, including 11 left in scoring position. On Sunday, the Elks stranded 12 base runners with six in scoring position. Bend has left ten or more batters on base in five straight games and has left nine or more base runners abandoned in 30 of its 47 games thus far this season.
Even with the Elks' struggles to capitalize on scoring opportunities, they still nearly found themselves competing for the win. If it had not been for the clutch two-out hitting of the Sweets, the Elks would have hypothetically won 2-0. Yet, in reality, Bend's pitching staff struggled to put away Walla Walla at the plate. On several occasions, the Elks were a pitch away from the inning, but the Sweets scrapped, fought off pitches, and delivered continual blows that left Bend gut-wrenched.
Although the Elks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a one-run single by former Sweet Derek Gellos, Walla Walla quickly responded with a three spot in the second on a two-run double by Vicente Feliciano and Kennedy Hara RBI single. The Sweets ended up scoring six total unanswered runs extending the lead on an RBI double by Hara and Leo Rivera's two-run single in the fifth. The only answer the Elks could produce to Walla Walla's two-out tallying was a run in the seventh on a RBI groundout by Hunter Komine.
Hara, Rivera, and Feliciano combined accounted for five of the Sweets' eight hits and all of its runs. Hara and Feliciano each had two hits and two RBI, while Rivera had a knock and drove in two runs. Tokyo native Heitaro Hayashi (3-3) earned his third win of the summer, tossing a solid 5.1 innings, surrendering one run on five hits with three walks countered by four strikeouts.
Ryan Rembisz was responsible for the loss for his third straight outing going 3.2 IP, with three strikeouts giving up four earned runs, five hits, and three walks. Gellos had three hits against his former team, while Wilson Weber had multiple hits for the second straight game, including his first double.
Bend will attempt to correct its mistakes and respond in game two to try and even the series with Walla Walla. First pitch Wednesday is at 6:35 p.m. at Borleske Stadium.
