With league standings at stake and limited pitching from which to draw, you've got to expect the kind of losses the Pullman Patriots took in the nightcap of Friday's opening day of the Stateline American Legion Baseball Tournament.But that doesn't make them any easier to swallow.Pullman battled North Whitcom to a 4-4 tie through three innings at Bailey Field before the Posse capitalized on some fielding miscues to secure a 9-5 win."We didn't make the plays," Pullman coach Lance Lincoln said. "We gave them a lot of outs per inning and they cashed them in."And with pitchers Steve Chamberlain and Brad Biagi resting their arms after a league doubleheader Wednesday, the Patriots simply couldn't afford to do that. Friday afternoon against the Spokaen Bandits, the Patriots' gloves were solid in an 11-2 win at Quann Field as reserve Nick Mayer pitched all five innings for the victory. Friday night, however, errors cost Pullman. The Patriots committed two errors in each of the last three innings as North Whitcom scored three runs in the fourth inning and one in each of the fifth and sixth frames. Pullman starter Ryan Kuntz settled down after a rocky start and set the Posse down in order in the third, but ran into trouble and yielded to Kevin Myers with runners on first and second and just one out in the fourth. After North Whitcom shortstop Jesse Newell singled home a run, third baseman Matt Copps popped up in foul territory, but it dropped and Copps made the Patriots pay by singling to center.Clean up hitter Matt Maberry then popped his second pitch up in foul territory, but again the Patriots couldn't glove the potential third out and Maberry made them pay with a run-scoring single on the next pitch.The Posse iced the win with two insurance runs, one on a single that rolled to the centerfield wall in the fifth inning and another on a dropped fly ball in shallow left center in the sixth."We just didn't take care of it," Lincoln said, adding that defense is even more critical when the Patriots dig deep into their pitching rotation. "We have to play pretty much perfect behind those guys."Kuntz is admittedly one of those pitchers, as he hadn't thrown in over two years but gave the Patriots three solid innings."After the first pitch, I was all right," Kuntz said. "I got in a groove there in the third inning, but I fell apart a little bit in the fourth. E I was done."After the Posse scored one run in the first inning, Pullman scored three in the top of the second to take the lead. With two outs, Mayer and Bryan Myers singled, and Mayer scored on a subsequent wild pitch. Catcher Peter Zornes then walked before Kuntz singled off Posse pitcher Randy Fleming's leg, scoring Myers. Zornes then scored on Nick Paulson's single.Pullman added one run in the third, when Myers drove in Tyler Brown with a single to center, and another in the fifth when Brown knocked in Chamberlain. The Patriots loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but Fleming closed the door for the win.The Patriots played almost the complete opposite against the Bandits earlier in the day. Pullman jumped out to a 3-2 lead after the opening frame and never looked back, as Chamberlain's second-inning double gave Pullman a 5-2 lead, and a six-run fourth, highlighted by Brown's double and sacrifice flies off the bats of Ryan VanDyke and Myers, invoked the eight-run mercy rule. Pullman didn't commit an error and, at times, looked sparkling in the field."We did the routine things," Lincoln said after the win. "We got good pitching, great defense and our offense was rolling."Mayer went the distance for the Patriots and went 3-for-3 at the plate with one double. He was never in trouble past the third inning, as the Bandits never threatened past third base.Pullman now plays the Meridian Eagle Vipers at 2 p.m. at Bailey Field. Bryan Myers will start for Pullman.Pullman0310100 -- 5 12 6North Whitcom130311x -- 9 8 0Ryan Kuntz, Kevin Myers (4) and Peter Zornes. Randy Fleming and Aaron Hayes. W -- Fleming. L -- Kuntz. BB -- Kuntz 4, Fleming 1. SO -- Myers 1, Fleming 4. HP -- Kuntz 2 (Matt Maberry, Jael Dewispelaere). Pullman hitting: Nick Paulson 1-4, Dusty Druffel 1-4, Brad Biagi 1-4, Steve Chamberlain 2-4, Tyler Brown 2-4, Nick Mayer 2-4, Bryan Myers 2-3, Kuntz 1-2. 2B -- Chamberlain, Brown. RBI -- Kuntz, Paulson, B. Myers, Brown. Runs -- Mayer, B. Myers, Zornes, Brown, Chamberlain. North Whitcom hitting: Jesse Newell 2-3, Matt Copps 2-3, Matt Maberry 1-2, Fleming 1-3, Kevin Fry 1-2, Hayes 1-3. @B -- Copps, Hayes, Maberry. 3B -- Newell. RBI -- Fleming, Hayes 2, Newell 2, Copps, Maberry. Runs -- Copps 2, Fry, Dewispelaere, Hayes 2, Newell 2, Britton Hanson 1.n Spokane Bandits 14, Seattle Shoreline 13 at Bear Field -- The Bandits rallied for five runs in the sixth inning for the come-from-behind victory.Ken Beeler, who went 3-for-4 from the plate on the game, was named game MVP. Teammate Chris Miller homered and Joe Crowder doubled for the Bandits.Jake Dixon paced Shoreline with a homer and a double while Matt Verdick added a two-run triple.n Meridian Eagle Vipers 22, Seattle Shoreline 12 at Bear Field -- The Eagle Vipers scored 14 runs in the final two innings to turn a close game into a rout.Neil Elder was named MVP after pitching three plus innings to close the game. Spencer Hann helped provide some offense with a three-run homer in the seventh. Jake Curdy added a two-run double.Alex Gordon paced Shoreline with a two-run home run.n Trail, British Columbia, 12, North Whitcom Posse 7 -- Trail scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 7-7 tie and take the win at Bailey Field.Tryer Fennell had three hits, two runs and three RBI to lead Trail, while Ryan Dickson went 2-for-3 with two runs and a double and Dean Jacklin had one hit, two runs and two RBI. Trail jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but North Whitcom scored three runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game before the deciding frame.Matt Copps had three hits, two runs and two RBI for the Posse, while Matt Maberry had a double and two RBI and Britton Hanson added a double.

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