Gorillas fall to state-bound Cougars in five innings
CHEWELAH-Davenport couldn't hit Cougars ace Zack Bowman's 83 mph fastball, and as a result, the Gorillas were sent home in the first round of the NE2B District Tournament Tuesday, May 10.
The Gorillas were shut out by the top-seeded team in the league, the Chewelah Cougars, 11-0 in five innings.
Davenport managed one base runner in 16 plate appearances against Bowman, which came in the first inning on a single by senior Denton Deal.
Bowman struck out the Davenport batters 11 times.
Deal started strong from the mound, surrendering just one run to a strong Chewelah offense in the first inning on a passed ball. The Cougars got rolling in the second inning, however, with five runs that were aided by a three-run inside-the-park home run by Bode Katzer.
Four more runs in the bottom of the third inning gave Chewelah a 10-0 lead it wouldn't surrender before the game ended after the top of the fifth inning by mercy rule.
Davenport came in with an uphill climb to defeat the top-seeded Cougars, who defeated Colfax later Tuesday to secure a spot in the state tournament and the district championship against Northwest Christian (Colbert).
The Gorillas came in as the No. 8 seed, the lowest in the tournament.
Davenport concluded its first baseball season since 2019 after being unable to find enough bodies to field a team last year.
The next step is to begin building up a program that can compete with the top schools in the league, acting head coach Tyson Linstrum said after Tuesday's game.
"Their fundamentals are getting better. Guys are catching fly balls, getting ground ball outs," Linstrum said. "When you're starting over that's what you need...we need to get summer league going and guys playing more baseball."
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