Sunday 2 September 2007

Thursday, September 7, 1950






               W  L  PCT GB
Tacoma ...... 89 56 .614 —
Yakima ...... 90 57 .612 —
Tri-City .... 81 64 .559 8
Wenatchee ... 76 70 .521 13½
Victoria .... 65 82 .442 25
Vancouver ... 62 81 .434 26
Spokane ..... 61 83 .424 27½
Salem ....... 57 88 .393 32


VANCOUVER, Sept. 7 — During the 1949 Western International League season, Tacoma’s Bob Kerrigan was just another member of the pitching staff. This season the strong left-hander is just about the Tacoma Tiger pitching staff.
Tonight, Kerrigan southpawed his way to a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Capilanos at Capilano Stadium. It was Kerrigan’s 26th win of the year. And a new WIL pitching record.
Kerrigan’s neat chore kept the Tigers in contention for the WIL pennant as Yakima los to Victoria.
All three Cap runs were unearned, the last one coming in the ninth with two out. George Nicholas lost his 16th game of the season against 15 wins.
The Tigers scored three runs in the very first inning on five hits and two walks, and only some fine infield play saved Nicholas from disaster.
Kerrigan's record exceeds the mark of 25 victories set in 1948 by Joe Blankenship, then of Victoria and now with the Wenatchee Chiefs.
Actually, the Tigers dropped another half game behind Yakima because Bob Bruenner, the Caps’ freshman right-hander, registered his seventh triumph in the opener of a twin bill. The rookie worked his way out of continuous trouble to cuff the Tigers 9-7.
He allowed 12 hits, two of them home runs by Wimpy Quinn, which accounted for four runs. Quinn batted two consecutive homers and two singles in four times at bat. Sol Israel also homered off him.
On the other side of the ledger Reg Clarkson had a perfect night at the plate, going four for four, and racing all the way around on an inside-the-park homer.
Two players were honoured between games. Charlie Mead received gifts and a couple of cups for being the people's choice, the clubs's leading home run hitter and for having batted in more runs than any other Cap this season. Sandy Robertson will display a new suit soon after being chosen the most valuable player.
Len Tran and Reg Clarkson went out of the park for Vancouver — Clarkson’s was a two-run blast — while Dick Sinovic tripled in two runs.
Kerrigan’s feat of 26 wins broke the existing record of 25 set by Joe Blankenship when he was with Victoria in 1947. Along with Sandy Robertson and Frank Nelson, the latter formerly of Spokane, Kerrigan also holds the record for consecutive pitching wins. The trio all won 12 straight games.
First Game
Tacoma ......... 303 000 1 — 7 12 4
Vancouver ...... 201 042 x — 9 11 0
Conger, Anderson (5) Loust (6) and Sheets; Bruenner and Heisner.
Second Game
Tacoma ......... 300 100 000 — 4 10 2
Vancouver ...... 000 020 001 — 3 8 1
Kerrigan and Sheets; Nicholas and Brenner.

VICTORIA, Sept. 7—Playing no favourites, Victoria Athletics Thursday night knocked Yakima out of the W.I.L. lead and restored the Tacoma Tigers, the club they knocked down earlier in the week, to the top rung. Playing before a “Ladies’ Night” crowd estimated at 1,300 at Royal Athletic Park the A’s handed Dewey Soriano, Yakima pitcher-president, his first defeat of the season, pounding him out of the box in a seven-run fourth inning and going on to take a 9-7 decision.
Although two of the league’s better pitchers started, the game was one of the longest of the season with four hurlers delivering a total of 348 pitches plate-wards. John Marshall, who asked for the assignment, was the surprise Victoria starter. Neither he nor Soriano managed to survive the fourth inning.
Lacking control, Marshall escaped being scored on in the first two innings, although he walked one batter in the first and three in the second. He lost the 2-0 lead a double by Jim Moore gave him in the first with plate umpire Estes ruled a smash by Bill McCawley a fair ball. It rolled deep into right field and McCawley races across the plate ahead of two of his teammates to receive credit for an inside-the-park home run. The blow, a hard-hit bounder down the first base line, appeared to be foul by at least a foot when it passed the bag, and the A’s protested to no avail.
Four successive bases on balls with two runners aboard in the fourth forced in three more runs and brought in Warren Noyes to replace Marshall.
Yakima’s lead evaporated quickly when the A’s took their turn in the fourth. Bill Dunn was hit by a pitched ball and Al Ronning walked to start it. Noyes laid down a perfect bunt and beat it out to load the bags. Bob McGuire grounded out, one run scoring, and Marty Krug, Jr. plated two more with a single. Lou Novikoff singled and Gene Thompson walked to load the bags again. Krug scored after Moore flied out and John Hack put the A’s ahead when he tripled.
Soriano went out in favour of Larry Powell and Dunn greeted him with a single which scored Hack. Powell finally got the side out and went on to pitch a fine game but the Bears could do nothing with Noyes.
The young righthander, who appears to be getting the control he lacked, scored his third win of the season and his second in successive relief appearances as he held Yakima to one run and three hits in five-plus innings.
Yakima ......... 003 300 100—7 7 0
Victoria ........ 200 700 00x—9 12 0
Soriano, Powell (4) and Tornay; Marshall, Noyes (4) and Ronning.

KENNEWICK, Sept. 7—The Tri-City Braves swamped Salem's sagging Senators 18 to 3 for the third straight time Thursday night in their last home game of the Western International league season.
The Braves also clinched third place in the standings, taking a 5½ game lead over fourth place Wenatchee which has no chance to move up.
Salem ......... 000 200 010— 3 9 2
Tri-City ....... 726 102 00x—18 20 1
Woodson, Costello (1), Osborn (3) and Martin; McCollum and McKeegan.

Wenatchee ...... 000 100 010 — 2 6 2
Spokane .......... 200 000 001 — 3 3 2
Ferrarese and Neal; Conant and Rossi.

Salem Ball Club For Sale Again
SALÈM, Sept. 7—The Salem Senators of the Western International Baseball League are for sale again.
Business Manager George Emigh said the parent Portland Beavers either want to sell the club or transfer it to another city because of poor attendance the last two seasons. The Senators are at the bottom of the league.
The Beavers tried to sell the club to a group of Salem citizens last winter, but they couldn't agree on a price. Now, nobody around here seems interested in buying the team.

G AB H RBI HR Ave
Stetter, Spok. … 131 474 178 110 15 .376
Greco, Tac. ……143 543 197 147 35 .363
McCawley, Yak. 101 382 129 72 5 .338
Thompson, Vic. 143 543 182 105 24 .335
Rossi, Spo. …… 138 498 166 110 18 .334
Warner, T.C. …. 142 536 177 127 20 .330
Runs batted in — Greco, Tacoma, 147; Warner, Tri-City, 127; Westlake, Yakima, 120; Mead, Vancouver, 113; Stetter, Tacoma, 113; Rossi, Spokane, 113.
Home runs — Greco, Tacoma, 35; Thompson, Victoria, 24; Warner, Tri-City, 20; Mead, Vancouver, 19; Rossi, Spokane, 18.
Pitching — Robertson, Vancouver, 12-2; Greenlaw, Tri-City, 9-2; Kerrigan, Tacoma, 25-7; Domenichelli, Yakima, 12-6; Kipp, Tacoma, 8-4.


NON WIL MINOR LEAGUE NEWS
Chorlton Runs Fast Century
SEATTLE, Sept. 7 — Rookie K. Chorlton, Seattle outfielder, with the steamlined first name, outlegged Portland's speedball Luis Marquez in a special 100-yard race prior to tonight's Portland-Seattle Pacific Coast League baseball game.
Chorlton stepped the distance in 11 second flat, fully clothed in baseball garb. Marquez was just a whimper behind. Seattle's Bill Ramsay was third and Portland's Johnny Rucker was fourth.

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