LRS baseball drops doubleheader, looks ahead to matchup against Reardan

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos baseball team fell in a league doubleheader on the road against the Asotin Panthers on April 6, dropping to 0-4 in league play on the season.

The Broncos fell 8-1 in the first game of the doubleheader against the Panthers. Head coach Jason Hilzer felt the margin of defeat would have been much closer if not for a plethora of uncharacteristic errors in the field, however.

"We had a few errors, some overthrows," said Hilzer. "They started [stealing bases], and we'd overthrow second base. They'd steal third and we'd overthrow third base. Or we'd throw it into the ground and it'd get by. Just silly mistakes. So you take those out, and both games are probably within 3-4 runs."

Junior Garrett Frederick got the start in the first game, pitching every inning for the first complete game by a Bronco pitcher this season.

Game No. 2 of the doubleheader saw the offense come alive more for the Broncos, but not enough to keep pace with the Panthers, falling 11-4. Sophomore Jay Harder hit a double to right-center field with the bases loaded for the biggest offensive highlight of the day for LRS, while junior Cole Cameron hit a double that Hilzer estimated would have been a home run at the Broncos' home field.

"[Cameron] hit one that probably would have went out here, but their left field fence is 350 feet and he probably hit it 340 feet," Hilzer said. The left field fence at LRS' home field is about 320 feet.

Hilzer credited the Panthers' pitching and defense for being able to mostly put a lid on his team offensively. The Broncos stole a couple of bases in the game, but also got caught stealing twice thanks to a strong arm from Asotin's catcher.

The Broncos had other baserunning woes in the game, including being picked off twice by Panthers pitchers. Hilzer said that he planned for the team to practice situational baserunning more in practice this week.

LRS faced off against the Mary Walker Chargers on April 9 in a non-league doubleheader at home. Coverage from that doubleheader will be included in next week's issue of The Journal.

The next league doubleheader for the Broncos is this weekend, as they host the Reardan Indians on April 13. The only other remaining league doubleheader on the schedule following the games against Reardan is a road tilt against the Liberty Lancers. Sweeps against the Indians and Lancers would give the Broncos the No. 3 seed in the Northeast 2B South Division.

Hilzer expects his team to pick up the sweep against the Indians--and the Lancers-- on Saturday, which he hopes will give his team positive momentum heading into the back half of the season and the playoffs.

"We've just got to cut down on our errors and believe that we can be good," said Hilzer. "That's the problem right now, I don't know how much we believe it. So I'm hoping with these next couple of games, if we get a couple of wins, we'll start believing it."

The first game of the doubleheader against Reardan is set to begin at 2 p.m., with the second game to follow shortly after the conclusion of the first game.