'Crash' Davis? Freshman's catch highlights LCC rout

LCC right fielder Tyler Davis tracks down a foul ball during the third inning of Wednesday's game. Davis made the catch despite colliding with the bullpen fence. Bill Wagner / The Daily News

Thursday, April 24, 2008 10:01 AM PDT

By Rick McCorkle

Every team has one player willing to sacrifice himself for the team, the guy who would run through a wall to catch a fly ball.

Tyler Davis is that guy on the Lower Columbia College baseball team, and he nearly ran through the fence surrounding the visitor's bullpen on Wednesday to chase down a fly ball.

Davis, a freshman from Crater High in Central Point, Ore., flagged down the foul ball as he crashed head-first into the bullpen, but quickly bounced back to his feet while holding his glove with the ball over his head to show his prize.

The play was part of a near-flawless performance by the fourth-ranked Red Devils as they overwhelmed third-ranked Bellevue in a 14-0 nonleague victory on David Story Field. The victory was the Devils' seventh straight and moved them to 15-17 overall, and avenged a 6-5 loss at Bellevue on March 15. The Bulldogs fell to 19-13.

"This was definitely a lifter for us because we had let them come back in a game where we had them beat at their place," LCC coach Kelly Smith said. "We really put the hammer down on them tonight."

The nonleague game gave Smith an opportunity to play his reserves, and they responded with 11 hits and played error-free. Five Devils' pitchers also combined to check the Bulldogs on six hits, and no Bellevue runner made it past first base until the ninth inning.

"Our pitchers threw strikes against a team that isn't too bad," Smith said. "We situational hit well, made more contact and didn't strike out a lot, and played a relatively clean game. Their pitchers were probably our most valuable player today."

Four Bellevue pitchers combined to strike out four LCC batters while issuing seven walks and hit three batters. Half of the LCC baserunners who were issued free passes eventually scored runs.

LCC scored all the runs it needed in the first inning when it parlayed two hits, two Bellevue errors, two wild pitches and a hit batter into three runs. The Devils added a run in the second when Davis belted a one-out triple that bounced off the center field fence below the 387 sign, and later scored on a foul fly behind first base.

"Tyler made a tremendous catch and hit a huge triple that ignited us," Smith said. "He doesn't care in the outfield because he sacrificed himself to catch the ball. We got a lot of good energy from the guys who don't play a lot."

Reserve outfielder Karlis Liepa showed patience at the plate in his five at-bats. He reached base in the first inning when the Bellevue third baseman air-mailed his throw over the head of the Bulldog first sacker, milked three walks and slapped a base hit to left field.

Backup catcher Taylor Schenck (pronounced SKANK) reached base in three of his four at-bats and scored twice. He drilled a double off the base of the left fence that started an eight-run rally in the fifth inning, was hit by a pitch, coaxed a walk and scored two runs.

"Karlis and Schenck also had good at-bats," Smith said. "These guys gave our regulars a rest because they've worked hard in practice, and maybe this will give us a little more depth."

LCC roughed up Bulldogs' reliever Kaylor Hasbargen for eight runs in the fifth inning. Hasbargen, who transferred to Bellevue from the University of Hawaii, gave up five hits and walked three batters in the inning before he exited.

Bellevue didn't come close to scoring until the ninth inning when Devils' reliever Conor Spink hit a batter and allowed consecutive one-out singles to load the bases. But Spink, a tall left-hander from Eagle River, Alaska, turned up his intensity and struck out the next two batters with a combined eight pitches to end the game.

Brooks Lindsley led the Devils with three singles and scored three times. Jett Hart added two singles and three runs, and Sean Winston had a two-run single in the fifth inning.

"I'm glad Bellevue showed up for this game because it made us feel good going into a huge weekend series," Smith added. "We're not really deep because of injuries, but maybe we created some depth today."

LCC has a pivotal league weekend ahead as the Red Devils entertain Pierce in a doubleheader Saturday, and host Tacoma in a twinbill Sunday.

Red Devils 14, Bulldogs 0

Bellevue 000 000 000- 0 6 5

Lower Col. 310 080 020-14 11 0

Kyle Pearson, Kaylor Hasbargen (3), Chad Mautner (5), Brent Miller (8) and Lucas Shaw, Gio Learned (5); Alex Levin, Michael Greene (4), Ben Rosen (5), Ryan Graves (7), Conor Spink (8) and Taylor Schenck.