In a showing of how different two baseball games can be between the same two teams, a twinbill was flipped on its head as Clarkston and Pullman split Wednesday at Clarkston High School. In the 2A Greater Spokane League showdown, the Greyhounds won the first game 17-1 in the fifth inning due to the mercy rule and the Bantams took the second contest 4-1. Pullman’s early dominance In Game 1, Pullman (10-5, 10-4) dominated from the mound and behind the plate. Joey Hecker started the game for the Greyhounds and went 3 2/3 innings with one run scored but no hits allowed. Vaughn Holstad entered in the fourth inning and pitched the rest of the game totaling 1 1/3 innings. Holstad allowed the lone hit for the Bantams (7-8, 7-7), but did not allow a single run. Pullman coach Kevin Agnew said that the duo put together a good game. “They’re excellent. They really competed hard that first game,” Agnew said. Holstad also had two hits, a triple and a double and recorded three RBI. Will Denney added three hits and two RBI for the Greyhounds’ offense. Brady Coulter also had two hits and two RBI and Brayden Randall added a two-RBI double. In the Game 2, Denney led the team with two hits and Randall had the lone RBI. Pullman’s difference in success between Game 1 and Game 2 was confounding, but Agnew said that the inconsistency has been an issue for the Greyhounds all season. “We’ve been very up and down, just inconsistent,” Agnew said. “You beat a team like that in Game 1 and come back and have a letdown and that’s been frustrating. We gotta get better in that department being more consistent with our approach.” Clarkston fires back Clarkston was barely able to gather a hit in the first game. The Bantams’ only hit came from Hayden Line in the bottom of the fourth. They also had an issue with pitching command, allowing 12 walks, throwing several passed balls and tossing four wild pitches. In Game 2, there was a stark difference. Pitcher Jace Cometto was dealing. Cometto tossed a complete game in 96 pitches and allowed six hits with just one run scored. He also had three strikeouts. “I was in the zone I was locked in — it felt amazing,” Cometto said. “I just kept consecutively throwing strikes and it was nice. It was amazing.” The offense also fared much better. Cometto added a single and two RBI, Caddis Sevy and Isaiah Woods each had two hits and one RBI apiece and Hayden Line contributed a double.
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Clarkston coach Taylor Marshall said the consistency of the team has been frustrating but was happy to leave with a win. “Oh man, that’s about as up and down as two games can be. I mean, 17-1 to then flip it on them and go 4-1,” Marshall said. “Our team has been frustrating all year, because that’s what we do. We play our worst and then we come back with our best and we’re just trying to find the consistency. But when you win a second game against a good team like this, it feels good.” GSL standings Pullman will play in its home finale against West Valley in a twinbill on Saturday. The Greyhounds currently rank second in the GSL two-and-a-half games behind West Valley and will try to make headway in the standings. Clarkston will play against North Central in a doubleheader on Friday. The series will help determine the fourth and fifth seeds in the GSL as North Central is one game ahead of Clarkston in the standings as the fourth seed. GAME 1 Pullman223 73—17 11 2 Clarkston001 00—1 1 3 J. Hecker, V. Holstad (4) and B. Randall; H. Line, I. Woods (3), G. Hiebert and J. Ostermiller. W — Hecker; L — Line. Pullman hits — W. Denney 3, Holstad 2 (3B, 2B), B. Coulter 2, B. Randall (2B), A. Hecker, C. McCann, B. Dobbins. Clarkston hits — H. Line. GAME 2 Pullman010 000 0—1 6 0 Clarkston020 002 x—4 9 1 B. Randall, B. Coulter (6) and I. Woods; J. Cometto and H. Line. W — Cometto; L — Randall. Pullman hits — W. Denney 2, B. Randall (2B), B. Coulter, B. Dobbins, V. Holstad. Clarkston hits — C. Sevy 2, Pa. Nugen 2, I. Woods 2, Line (2B), Cometto, O. Phillips. Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @TrevorJunt.
