CLANCY ELLIS: Lewis-Clark defeats Kuna via mercy rule

Jun. 13—As the sun fell on a beautiful Friday night at Harris Field in Lewiston during the Clancy Ellis Tournament, the Lewis-Clark Cubs closed out the game via mercy rule in a 12-2 win over the Kuna Seminoles.

Lewis-Clark coach Bill Stevenson said that his team performed well in about every aspect of the game. He said that their hard work during practices is starting to pay off.

Next up? The Cubs (7-1) wait for this morning’s final between the Orofino Merchants and Gonzaga Prep to conclude pool play and set the seeds for the bracket stage. Stevenson said the Cubs will either play at 7 p.m. today as the No. 1 seed or on Sunday as the No. 2 seed.

In the day’s other Clancy Ellis games, Idaho Hooks 16U beat the Orofino Merchants 3-2 and the Kuna Seminoles beat the Asotin County Blues 10-8.

“They hung in there and put balls in play, and I was very happy with the discipline and keeping line drives,” Stevenson said. “We got some big clutch hits from our second (baseman) Kasch Littlefield that really helped us out. So I thought the pitchers also showed me that they were tough and kept working on throwing strikes. The two pitchers and my second baseman really stepped up and they performed really well.”

Pitching that shut down the Kuna offense

Cubs starting pitcher Slater Kuther worked 3 1/3 innings and allowed three hits, two runs and five walks while striking out two in 71 pitches.

Cody Blackwell stepped in as relief and dominated during his 1 2/3 innings. He didn’t allow a run, a hit or a walk and struck out one in 18 pitches for Lewis-Clark.

Blackwell said he used a fastball and a curveball effectively on Friday against the Seminoles (2-3).

“It felt awesome,” Blackwell said. “My elbow was having a little trouble yesterday, and I was just happy to get back on the mound and throw and make it feel good.”

Stevenson said that Kuther took a little time to get in rhythm, but once he did he was pounding in strikes. He said both pitchers did a good job getting the ball in play, so the defense could work.

“Blackwell just threw strikes; he threw two pitches for strikes and made them swing the bat,” Stevenson said. “And 18 pitches, he’s out of there. So both of them had a great mentality, a bulldog mentality which I really like.”

Standout offensive performances

Blackwell also had two RBI.

Landon Ortiz paced the Lewis-Clark offense with two hits and two RBI.

Ian Franklin came in off the bench and had a hit, totaling two RBI.

Littlefield collected two hits and one RBI.

Stevenson said the culmination of the players buying into the process of barreling up the ball is working wonders.

“Working their barrel to a line drive,” Stevenson said. “If you notice, Franklin comes in off the bench and just hits a line drive. Ortiz is working that barrel (to) put the ball up the middle. And then Kasch really got into a few of them … What our coaches and our staff do, they’re applying it.”

The Cubs were walked nine times by Kuna.

That caused many runs, especially in the fourth, when Lewis-Clark scored seven runs.

Stevenson said that a couple of clutch hits and the timely walks helped boost the offense over the top.

“When you see and visualize, and you look in the strike zone, then you can see the ball out of his hand that’s not going to be in the strike zone,” Stevenson said. “So it’s a discipline thing, it’s knowing where your strike zone (is) and being able to take a pitch when it’s a ball. And so it’s all about teaching yourself to look where the ball needs to be to hit it, and that’s what they’re doing.”

Seminoles 010 10—2 3 3

Cubs 031 71—12 8 1

C. Lopes, A. Fletcher (4), M. Piggott (4) and N. Jordan; S. Kuther, C. Blackwell (4) and C. Cameron.

Seminoles hits — R. Tellez (2B), C. Lopes, N. Jordan.

Cubs hits — L. Ortiz 2, C. Henson 2, K. Littlefield 2, I. Franklin, C. Clark.

Idaho Hooks 16U 3, Orofino Merchants A 18U 2

The Merchants drew even with two runs in the top of the sixth, but the Idaho Hooks pulled ahead with a run in the bottom of the frame and slammed the door shut in the top of the seventh to edge Orofino.

Ethan Gilmore slapped the game-tying single in the sixth, while Blake Barlow and Jaeger Tondevold provided a pair of hits apiece at the top of the order.

Gilmore struck out three batters through five two-run innings on the mound for Orofino (3-3).

Merchants 000 002 0—2 5 0

Hooks 002 001 x—3 2 1

Kuna Seminoles 10, Asotin County Blues 8

Preston Nugen racked up three hits and three runs at the top of the order, but the Blues came up short against the Kuna Seminoles.

Nolan Newberg tallied two hits and drove in two runs for Asotin County (2-5), which jumped out to a 7-1 lead through two innings, before Kuna went on a 9-1 run to claim the game.

Blyton Holman was 1-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and two runs.

Seminoles 011 431—10 6 3

Blues 250 100—8 6 3

Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X @TrevorJunt.