Pullman baseball pummels Clarkston

May 2—CLARKSTON — The Pullman baseball team turned three double plays and got quality pitching from three different hurlers in a 12-1 mercy-rule victory against 2A Greater Spokane League foe Clarkston on Wednesday at Clarkston High School.

"I thought we came down here focused and ready to go," Pullman coach Kevin Agnew said. "We played really good defense, and our at-bats were solid. We threw a bunch of guys to keep them fresh for Friday, and they all pitched well."

Fielding errors, a slow night at the plate and a shattered windshield courtesy of a foul ball defined the Bantams' six innings of play.

"We just have a hard time competing," Clarkston coach Bruce Bensching said. "We have a lot of talent; we just need our guys to come out and compete every pitch, and we're almost finished with the season and we're still trying to find our flow."

Dominating defense

The Greyhounds (15-3, 12-1) executed their first two-for-one in the bottom of the third.

While trailing 5-1 with one out, Clarkston (5-12, 5-8) had Otis Phillips and Bodee Thivierge on second and third.

Junior Gillis Simpson hit a line drive to Pullman second baseman Joe Hecker, who made the throw to first for the out.

Hounds' first baseman Caleb Northcroft caught Thivierge trying to make a run for home. Northcroft, also the football team's quarterback, threw a laser to catcher Brayden Randall in time to record the out.

Simpson was a casualty of another double play from Pullman in the bottom of the sixth.

The junior hit a soft grounder to Cade Hill, who tossed it to Hecker for the first out. Hecker then fired a missile to Northcroft at first before Simpson could run through the bag.

Pullman's Brady Coulter struck out Isaiah Woods for the final margin.

"That's something we really take pride in our program," Agnew said. "We spend a lot of time on defense, and guys really buy into that philosophy. It's important to them, and I think they came out here and played good defense (and) attacked the ball."

The other double play came in the bottom of the fourth.

Woods got on base for Clarkston with a single into left field.

Jacob Stewart hit a soft grounder to Pullman's second baseman to force Woods out there. He then turned, fired and delivered to Northcroft for an additional out at first.

Hill struck out Gage Hill during the next at-bat to end the inning.

"Any time you turn three double plays, it's a good day," Agnew said. "We've played good infield defense all year; that's been a staple of ours. We pitch well and play good defense, especially in our infield."

Getting out of your own way

It was hard for Clarkston to muster much of a defensive effort as it committed four fielding errors.

The Bantams' self-sabotage was on display during the top of the third inning when junior Bodee Thivierge took over on the mound.

Thivierge only pitched 2/3 of an inning, gave up four runs on one hit and walked two batters.

Things started rough for the junior hurler as the first two batters he faced got on base from a fielding error.

After that, it was hard to recover. The Greyhounds scored four runs in the top of the third and rotated through their lineup.

"I thought our effort (on the mound) was really good," Bensching said. "Walks and hit batters are part of the game. It's the other part where we're not making plays. Bodee should've had a five-pitch inning. But we made three errors."

Not to be confused

If someone yelled out a name from the Greyhounds' roster, several players would likely turn their heads.

Pullman has multiple players with similar-sounding names like Cade (Hill), Caleb (Northcroft) and Calvin (Heusser). And that's just the C-names.

The Greyhounds also have Brayden (Randall), Bryson (Hathaway) and Brady (Coulter).

The unit of four seniors and two juniors has garnered different nicknames from Agnew over the years to eliminate any miscommunication from alliteration.

"I don't think I've used their actual names in two years; they all have nicknames," Agnew said. "I think that's part of what makes this group close. They compete with each other; they compete against their opponent and they're a pleasure to be with in the yard. I'm going to miss them like crazy."

Stats of note

Hecker notched a team-high two hits for Pullman.

Heusser also earned the win on the mound. He allowed no runs on no hits and struck out three in two innings.

Phillips and Woods had the two hits for Clarkston.

Trace Green absorbed the loss for the Bantams and pitched two innings. He allowed one run on one hit and struck out two.

Pullman 014 115—12 6 1

Clarkston 001 000—1 2 4

Caleb Heusser, Cade Hill (3), Brady Coulter (5) and Brayden Randall; Trace Green, Bodee Thivierge (3), Jacob Stewart (4), Gavin Hiebert (5), Hayden Line (6) and Line, Green (6). W—Heusser; L—Green .

Pullman hits — Joey Hecker 2, Isaac Pagles, Kris Schroeder, Heusser.

Clarkston hits — Otis Phillips, Isaiah Woods.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks