Dominant Pitching Of Clouse and Luckenbach Lead Bellevue to Three Wins in Tacoma-Pierce Invite

Niko De La Cruz had four hits on Sunday as Bellevue closed out the Tacoma-Pierce Invite with two wins on Sunday. photo by Rich Dworkis.
Niko De La Cruz had four hits on Sunday as Bellevue closed out the Tacoma-Pierce Invite with two wins on Sunday. photo by Rich Dworkis.

After coming off a tough loss in the opening round of the Tacoma-Pierce Invite on Friday, Bellevue came back with three straight wins over Treasure Valley and Tacoma, who were two of the top team at last year’s NWAC Championships. On Saturday March 21, Zander Clouse lowered his ERA to 0.4 on the year as he struck out nine Chukar hitters en route to a 5-1 win. Clouse went eight innings and gave up only two hits without issuing a run. In a scoreless game between two of the top pitchers statistically-speaking in the NWAC, Bellevue’s Zach Usselman and Danny Torlai hit back-to-back extra base hits to get Bellevue on the board. Sam Finfer had three hits on the day to lead Bellevue’s offense. On Sunday, Bellevue again went up against Treasure Valley and won 9-0. Treasure Valley was coming off a walk-off home run loss to Tacoma just prior to the 11AM matchup with Bellevue. Marty Luckenbach struck out seven and did not allow a run in his six and one-third innings of work. Luckenbach lowered his ERA to 1.26 for the year. Eight of nine Bellevue hitters had a hit in the game as Shane Stober had three. The offense was spread through the lineup as seven starters each had RBI’s. In game two, Bellevue took on Tacoma in a re-match of the battle that took place last weekend, resulting in a split. Bellevue won 5-2 as Corbin Powers, after a rough start, gained momentum and scattered only three hits through five innings of work for the win. Cody Anderson recorded the save pitching two shutout innings. Niko De La Cruz had three hits on the day to lead Bellevue. De La Cruz raised his average from below .200 to .290 in one hot day for the Bulldogs. Bellevue looks to take the win streak into their league-opener this Saturday against Edmonds, who also is coming off an excellent pre-season. The league opener also happens to be a re-match of the NWAC Championship title game from last May. The opener this Saturday is slated for a 1PM start at home.

Last Updated March 23, 2015