Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Reardan senior first baseman Tristian Klinkenberg knocks in one of his two doubles against Kettle Falls Friday, May 14.
REARDAN – There was no league championship at stake, but the Reardan baseball team leveraged its home field advantage to win the four-team NE2B consolation playoff with wins over Kettle Falls and Lind-Ritzville/Sprague during a full day of America's pastime Friday, May 14.
The playoff kicked off with the Indians hosting the Bulldogs in a morning tilt. Reardan, technically the visiting team, scored two runs in the top of the first inning.
But Kettle Falls tied the score in the bottom of the second.
Three Reardan runs in the third inning to two from Kettle Falls gave the Indians a slim 5-4 lead.
In the top of the fifth with two outs, Reardan broke the game open with eight runs. First baseman Tristian Klinkenberg, who also hit a two-out, two-run RBI double in the third inning, drove in a run with a two-bagger.
Kettle Falls scored four more runs in the game, but it wasn't enough as the Indians hung on to win 13-8 and advance to the winner's game of the playoff.
Abe Nelson had three hits against the Bulldogs. Tate Nelson and Caden Day had two hits apiece.
The Indians then had two games off.
Lind-Ritzville/Sprague knocked off Liberty (Spangle) in the second game of the day to advance to the winner's game against Reardan. Kettle Falls then scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to walk off with a 10-9 win over Liberty in the loser's game.
The Indians and the Broncos squared off for a winner's game in a dusty but peaceful setting.
Senior southpaw Aiden Kieffer took the mound for the final start of his career and was nearly untouched after allowing a run in the top of the first inning.
He gave up just three hits, and Reardan pulled away for a convincing 11-1 win that was called in the bottom of the sixth inning by mercy rule.
Kieffer helped himself with two hits, a game-high. Reardan scored five runs in the bottom of the first and four runs in the bottom of the sixth to win.
Reardan finished the season 8-9 overall and in fifth place in the NE2B.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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