Lakeside finishes fourth in tourney

Perhaps it was just fatigue from playing their sixth game in six days. Or maybe it was the hot bats of the Bankers Baseball Club, or the weary Lakeside pitching.

Either way, the Lakeside Recovery Senior Legion baseball team looked flat in the third/fourth place game in the Brandy Pugh Memorial Tournament, and it showed.

Lakeside managed only three hits and only managed to advance a runner past second base once in the game, as Bankers pounded the host team 8-0 at Bannerwood Park on July 14 in a five-inning shortened game due to the mercy rule.

While Conner Pearson mowed down the Lakeside batters, Jacob Kemmerer and Blake Fulghum could do little against the powerful Bankers bats, as Bankers pounded out 16 hits in the victory.

“We were flat from the get-go, I don’t know if we were tired or what,” said Lakeside coach Rob Reese. “Six games in a row, we were pretty wiped.”

Kemmerer, who took the loss, gave up four runs before yielding to Fulghum, who gave up the final four runs in one inning of work. Pearson picked up the win for Bankers.

Miles Brown and Zach Aaker led the way for Bankers, each picking up two RBIs in the win.

The only highlights for Lakeside were two spectacular catches by center fielder Collin Bennett.

Bennett made a diving grab to his left on a fly ball by Aaker in the third inning and followed it up with another diving grab in the fourth, this time diving back towards the wall in center on a Taylor Smart fly ball.

“Those were two great catches,” Reese said. “Collin is a great center fielder and we’re lucky they didn’t get more than eight [runs].”

While Lakeside finished fourth in the tournament, the Seattle Stars defeated Red Lion 7-3 to win its second tournament title in three years. The Stars lost only one game in the tournament, as Chaffey defeated the Stars 8-5 on Friday, July 11.

Joel Willits can be reached at 425-453-5045 or at jwillits@reporternewspapers.com

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