W L PCT GB
Tacoma ..... 78 48 .619 —
Yakima ..... 78 50 .609 1
Tri-City ... 69 57 .548 9
Wenatchee .. 69 55 .543 9½
Victoria ... 58 71 .450 20
Vancouver .. 53 71 .427 23
Salem ...... 52 75 .409 26½
Spokane .... 49 76 .392 28½
Tacoma In Lead For WIL Pennant
By FRANK VAILLE
Associated Press Sportswriter
UNDATED, Aug. 21—Western International League fans—and the Yakima Bears in particular—were asking today: How long can Tacoma keep it up? "It" being the Tigers' winning ways.
Tacoma dropped Salem twice yesterday 7 5 and 1-0 for its 16th victory in 18 starts and the fifth in a row. Yakima dropped Spokane 10-2 but fell a full game behind the pace-setting Tigers.
The front-running Tacomans were outhit in both Sunday contests and had to come from behind twice in the first game before going in front to stay on Dick Greco's 30th home run of the year. In the seven-inning finale, Salem's Bill Osborn pitched three-hit ball, but the Tigers bunched two of them behind a walk in the second frame to score Orrin Snyder with the game's lone tally Tom Kipp twirled a five-hitter for the victors.
All the league parks are scheduled to be dark tonight. Play resumes tomorrow night with Victoria taking its six game winning streak to Tacoma, Yakima moving in against slipping Wenatchee, Tri-City invading Spokane, and Vancouver going to Salem.
TACOMA, Aug. 20—A walk and successive singles by Bill Sheets and Jose Bache scored Orrin Snyder with the lone and winning run Sunday night as Tacoma nosed out Salem 1-0 in a seven-inning nightcap to a twin bill. Tacoma captured the opener 7-5 to sweep the series.
First Game
Salem ....... 100 021 001—5-15-1
Tacoma ..... 200 012 02x—7- 9-1
Valentine and Martin; Loust, Anderson (6) and Fischer.
Second Game
Salem ....... 000 000 0—0-5-0
Tacoma ..... 010 000 x—1-3-0
Osborn and Beard; Kipp and Sheets.
SPOKANE, Aug. 20 — Bill Bradford scattered 10 hits for his twelfth victory of the year as the Yakima Bears beat the Spokane Indians here Sunday night. The score: 10-2.
Bill Andring, ex-University of Washington star, banged out 11 hits in 18 times at bat in the four game series for a .611 average.
Jim Holder was losing pitcher for the Indians.
Yakima ... 002 020 330—10-16-0
Spokane .. 100 001 000— 2-10-1
Bradford and Tiesiera; Holder, Rockey (5), Yerkes (8) and Weatherwax.
KENNEWICK, Aug. 20—The Tri-City Braves went hog wild on hits to defeat the Wenatchee Chiefs 27-2 here Sunday night in the Western International baseball league.
The Chiefs threw five pitchers into the game in a desperate effort to stop the Braves who went right on piling up hits.
The score stood 0-0 at the bottom of the third when the Braves went to bat. Six hits, three Wenatchee errors and five walks later the score was 15-0. Only two were earned runs.
Braves pitcher Nicholas pitched shut-out ball until the eighth when Hank Sciarra hit a home run. Wenatchee's 10 hits could only bring in one more score.
Nicholas also starred at the bat with two triples, a double, a single and six runs batted in. Clint Cameron shared honors with Nicholas by batting in eight.
Tri-City sent 52 men to bat.
- - - - -
KENNEWICK, Aug. 21 (Don Becker, Herald)—The Tri-City Braves smashed their way back into third place in the Western International League standings last night. And smashed is the word to describe the 27-2 whip lashing they gave five Wenatehee hurlers to depose the former third place team.
The 1,287 cash customers saw one fantastic inning in which the Braves racked up 13 runs. The count was just one short of the league record, 16, which is held by Spokane. The barrage of runs broke a 0-0 tie in the third inning. And it only took six base hits to do it. Three Wenatchee errors counted heavily in the stanza which used up three Chief hurlers before the Braves decided to call it a night. All in all five of them wound their way to and from the mound before the game ended.
For Joe Nicholas, the Braves winning pitcher, it was one of those games you dream about. Not only did he hold the Chiefs well in check most of the nine-inning route, but Joe also starred at the plate. His two triples, a double and a single, accounted for six of the winning runs. Only Clint Cameron with eight runs batted in did better in that department.
There were 18 Braves at the plate in that fantastic third canto. Six of the players cleated the home plate twice. It was a sad affair for Tommy Breisinger, the Wenatchee ace left hander. He had a 12-5 record until the roof fell in. The Chief's [sic] star gave up four free passes, a single, and a base dealing double before he was lifted for Al Treichel.
Neil Bryant got the single to drive in two runs and Clint Cameron's double to the right field wall added three more. But if Breisinger had it rough, what happened to Treichel shouldn't. Every man that faced him scored. Finally Tommy Thompson, the Chiefs manager, took the hill to get the side out.
But the Braves didn't let up. They came back in the fourth to score four more runs off Don Ferrarese who appeared on the hill for Wenatchee in that inning. And just to show they weren't playing favorites the Braves belted Jerry Ballard, who finished out the last four innings, for a total of eight more runs.
There were more heroes on the Tri-City team than you could count Vic Buccola who had been in a bad way when it came to getting those base knocks, broke his dry spell with five hits in six trips. The league's best first baseman made them count, too, by driving home five runs.
Buddy Peterson also had a big night with the stick hitting safely four times in six tries, while Dick Faber hit a .750 clip with three for four.
Even the fans and the players got into the spirit of the occasion. In the eighth inning, for instance,with the score 25-1 Al Spaeter came to bat. An exuberant fan shouted out, "Come on Al, they're depending on you!" Whether the second baseman heard him or not is problematical but anyhow Spaeter rapped out a single to score Nicholas on third as a result of his second triple.
Hank Sciarra robbed Nicholas of a shutout in the eighth when he poled a pitch over the left field wall.
The final run of the game for Wenatchee came in the ninth after two were out. Art Billings got a single, moved to second on Joe Unfried's base hit and scored when Len Neal rapped a double, the second and final extra base hit for Wenatchee.
Wenatchee ........ 000 000 011— 2-10-3
Tri-City ............. 00(15) 401 52x—27-24-1
Breisinger, Treichel (3), Thompson (3), Ferrarese (4), Ballard (5) and Neal; Nicholas and Pesut, McKeegan (7).
ONLY GAMES SCHEDULED
IT BEATS ME
By Jim Tang [Victoria Colonist, Aug. 20, 1950]
Selection of a W.I.L. all-star team this season should cause fewer difficulties than usual although there will be the usual differences of opinion. While the calibre of baseball has been up to standard, the league appears to have produced fewer standout players than in various seasons, particularly at some of the infield positions.
Complying with the annual request from league headquarters, this corner will attempt to name the best players art each position counting team value as being an important as statistics.
Starting behind the plate, the vote for the first team goes to Spokane’s Joe Rossi, one of the few bright spots of a drab season for the Indians. Rossi may not be as good a prospect as Yakima’s Nini Tornay but this season he has been far more valuable to his team.
Moving into infield nominations, one finds no particular standouts at first base or shortstop. Wimp Quinn, Tacoma, and Wally Westlake, Yakima, have been the most dangerous first basemen at the plate and Quinn gets the nod for the greater contribution to the success of the club. At shortstop, it is difficult to vote for Larry Neal, Wenatchee’s colored infielder, who has too often appeared as if he was not giving his best. Bud Peterson, Tri-City, is potentially the best of the top but he has had an in-and-out season. This vote goes to Ray Tran, the steady Vancouver veteran.
It’s a two-way fight at second and third base. Buddy Hjelmaa, Wenatchee, and Ron Gifford, Tacoma, are both excellent defensive players and both are hitting well over the .300 mark. A toss-up here with Gifford, a good prospect, getting a dubious vote. At third base, Don Fraccia, Wenatchee, appears to hold the edge over Yakima’s Reno Cheso although the latter is probably the better hitter at the moment. Fracchia is one of the best defence players to show in the W.I.L. for some time and he has a chance to go all the way.
Thompson, Marshall Get Votes
Naming the top three outfielders is comparatively easy. Dick Greco, the slugging Tacoman, is a must for right field. Nor will many argue with the selection of Gene Thompson for left field. Having his best season, Thompson has been one of the few Victoria hopes who came up to expectations. The big fellow has fielded and thrown exceptionally well and his work on the bases is better than most fans realize. At the plate, he has been a consistent .330 hitter with 22 home runs, 31 doubles and nine triples already to his credit. He will bat in and also score over 100 runs this season.
That leaves centre field open and this vote goes to Jim Warner, the Tri-City veteran who has recovered from his slump and is now pounding the ball with an average of .330. Warner is also one of the better defensive outfielders.
That leaves off Glen Stetter, almost certain to capture the hitting championship but whose defensive weaknesses are great enough so that he can’t be ranked with the above trio. Walt Pocekay, Wenatchee, and Bill McCawley, Bill Andering and Jerry Zuvella, Yakima, are good outfielders. Reg Clarkson’s bad arm and Edo Vanni’s defection as a team player put them out of consideration.
Pitching the two southpaw pitchers is the easiest of all. Off their records, there can be no doubt that Bob Kerrigan, Tacoma’s 21-game winner, and Jay Ragni, Wenatcee’s converted outfielder, are the best. The right-handed selection of the four-man mound staff is more difficult. John Marshall can be the best but his recent outs haven’t been up to the usual standard. Just the same, he has won 14 games for a second-division club and must get a call. Sandy Robertson’s record is marred by the fact he is strictly a home-park operator so the other vote from here goes to Lou McCollum, the steady old man of the Tri-City staff.
Naming of a manager was not requested by the vote would go to Jim Brillheart, the dour Tacoma field boss. Brillheart has driven what is not an outstanding club back into the lead after losing his big early margin.
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 20—24-year-old Teddy Savarese, up from the Yakima, Wash., farm, won his PCL game today, an 11-9 victory over Oakland in the first game of a double header at Seals Stadium.
Brooks Holder's two-run double in the seventh provided the margin of victory.
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