Bulldogs come up short at Las Vegas tournament

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Having exhausted their two best pitchers — Tyler Lichty and Cory Hawkins — in winning the first two games of the Las Vegas tournament, the Bulldogs baseball team relied on a committee approach in the third game, falling behind early and losing 14-5 to Centennial (Nevada) on Wednesday.

Cole Tonnemacher, Ricky Stewart, Jake Semones, Kelly Karle, Ben Fisher and Ryan Armbruster all pitched in the loss, as Sandpoint dug an early double-digit deficit and never caught back up. They finished third out of six teams in their bracket, and will play a team from Hawaii today in consolation.

"We knew we'd be short on the pitching staff, and were hoping to get through the game by committee; it didn't work out that way," said Bulldogs coach Mike Givens. "It gave us a good opportunity to get some new guys on the mound and gain experience."

Bulldog pitchers only allowed six hits, but issued 10 walks and hit two batters to cause most of the damage. The Bulldogs (3-8) were down 11-0 after three innings, before rallying to score five runs in the next two.

"All in all we played well in those three games, it was a great experience for out kids," said Givens, who got a great look at some new players. "We learned who could play at this level. Kelly Karle had a really good tournament, and Lichty and Hawkins pitched excellent."

Sandpoint wraps up the tournament today against a team from Hawaii before making the trek home, where they'll resume their season Tuesday at Lakeland.