Baseball Wins South Super Regional; Will Face No.1-Ranked Team and Host Lower Columbia

Eli Gallo had a big weekend offensively for Bellevue leading them to the South Super Regional Title.
Eli Gallo had a big weekend offensively for Bellevue leading them to the South Super Regional Title.

Bellevue College baseball won three straight games over the weekend of May 21-22 to win the NWAC South Super Regional hosted by Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore.

On Saturday May 21, Bellevue opened up with an 11-2 win over Centralia. Evan Johnson, Eli Gallo, and Tino Peleti all hit home runs in the same inning to lead Bellevue in the offensive outpour.  The home run spree was part of a six-run second inning. Gallo had four RBI’s in the game. Bellevue then played the top seed, Lane immediately after and was paced by strong outing on the mound by Dominic DeMiero. The southpaw shutout Lane through five innings as Bellevue jumped out 4-0 in the first inning and built a comfortable 6-0 cushion heading into the later innings. Gallo continued his hot hitting with another three RBI’s. Jordan LaFave had three hits and two key RBI’s as well. LaFave also crossed home three times for Bellevue.

On Sunday, Bellevue took on Lane again, with Lane having to beat Bellevue twice. Cody Anderson went five innings without yielding a run before Lane tacked on two to knot the game at 2-2. A rain delay for 20 minutes then came in the seventh inning. The final three innings had it all; short game mastery by both teams, clutch pitching, key hits, and botched offensive opportunities as both teams had the bases loaded with zero outs.

In a wild finish, Bellevue put up two runs in the eighth only to be matched by Lane scoring twice as well. Bellevue would then put up another three in the ninth inning. Lawyer Braun, Austin Pinorini, and LaFave opened up the top of the ninth with consecutive singles. Lane made a pitching change going to star relief pitcher Logan Roberts who entered the game with stellar pitching statistics. Roberts’ velocity appeared to be too much for Lane’s catcher to handle, as Braun scored on a wild pitch to break the tie. Control problems then ensued, as two consecutive walks forced in another run. Joe Wainhouse delivered a sacrifice fly to left field.

On a close play at the plate, LaFave, attempting to score on the fly, made a great slide to avoid the catcher tag to plate Bellevue’s third run of the inning. Zach Usselman, who came on to pitch in the eighth, retired three straight including a game-ending strikeout to seal the win for Bellevue.

The Bulldogs now 35-16, are making a return to the NWAC Championships where they finished runner-up in 2014. They will be featured in the marquee matchup of the the opening day. Bellevue will square off with tournament host, No.1 West seed Lower Columbia at 7:35 p.m on Thursday May 26. Both teams are not only region champions in their respective divisions, but the two teams also shared the No. 1 ranking in the NWAC Coaches’ Poll for much of the season.

The championships will also feature a pre-tournament preview show broadcast on the NWAC website. For all tournament information, see nwacsports.org.

Last Updated May 23, 2016