Tuesday 12 February 2008

Saturday, August 16, 1952

W L Pct. GB
Victoria .... 79 40 .664 —
Spokane ..... 70 53 .569 11
Vancouver ... 59 54 .522 17
Salem ....... 56 62 .474 22½
Yakima ...... 56 65 .463 24
Lewiston .... 55 65 .458 24½
Tri-City .... 51 66 .436 27
Wenatchee ... 49 70 .412 31


YAKIMA [Victoria Colonist, Aug. 17]—Bill Prior, lanky Victoria righthander who turned down a chance to turn pro with the New York Yankee organization four years ago and who has been a part-time performer for Victoria’s W.I.L club for several seasons, came up with his standout pitching performance at Yakima last night.
Unbeatable in the clutch and almost unhittable, Prior held the hard-hitting Bears to two hits in the first game of a doubleheader to turn in his first professional shutout, 2-0.
The Tyees lost the second game, 4-3, when Milt Martin’s bad throw sent in the winning run, but they added a game to their lead, extending it to 11 games, when Salem brought Spokane’s surge to an abrupt end.
Getting excellent pitching help from rookie Bud Francis and Ted Collins, the Senators dumped the Indians twice, 7-3 and 4-2.
Vancouver’s Capilanos, practically out of pennant contention, held their pace, 17 games behind, by getting no better than a split with last-place Wenatchee.
GREAT IN CLUTCH
Prior had a no-hitter with one out in the fifth and he had to be good with his teammates having trouble with Bob Savage, former major-leaguer with Philadelphia Athletics. He struck out five and his strikeouts came when he was threatened.
He whiffed Mike Donahue in the third with a runner on the bags. He struck out dangerous Kenny Richardson to open the fifth but Donahue ruined his no-hit hopes with a triple. Savage tried twice to lay down a squeeze bunt, fouling the first time and missing the second time for strike three. Ron Bottler grabbed the ball and put it on the charging Donahue for a double play.
In the fourth, Eddie Schuerman led off by reaching second base when Don Pries dropped his infield pop fly. Prior went to work, struck out Jerry Zuvella, a tough lefthanded hitter, got .327-hitting Len Noren on an easy roller, walked John Albini, and then forced Dario (.312) Lodigiani to hit to Lu Branham.
With two on the bags and two out, Prior got out of his last jam by blowing a third strike past Albini.
MONIZ HELPS OUT
Bob Moniz, making a real bid for the batting title, drove in both Victoria runs but Prior even had a hand in those. He bunted Ron Bottler, who had walked, to second, moved up on Branham’s bunt, and scored as Moniz came through again.
No information, other than the score and the fact that the loss went to Jehosie Heard, was available on the second game.
[Bill Bottler started for Victoria. He gave up two hits but walked ten in six innings of work, and tripled in Victoria’s run in the seventh inning. Granny Gladstone doubled in Victoria’s other two runs in the eighth to tie the game at 3-3. They were the only extra-base hits of the game].
First Game
Victoria .... 001 000 1—2 7 2
Yakima ..... 000 000 0—0 2 0
Prior and R. Bottler; Savage and Donahue.
Second Game
Victoria .... 000 000 120—3 4 4
Yakima .... 010 001 101—4 4 2
B. Bottler, Heard (7) and Martin; Shandor and Donahue.

First Game
Salem ....... 012 100 102—7 12 1
Spokane .... 100 100 001—3 9 3
Hemphill, Francis (1) and Thrasher; Conant, Palm (9) and Hinz, Sheets (9).
Second Game
Salem ....... 001 100 2—4 4 1
Spokane .... 100 100 0—2 5 1
Collins and Thrasher; Marshall and Sheets.

VANCOUVER [Keith Matthews, News-Herald, Aug. 18]—There were a lot of interesting little baseball sidelights at the Stadium, where the Capilanos clobbered Wenatchee 10-2, then got a fair going over themselves in the second game, 8-5.
There was the point, for instance, regarding who was going to be the home team. Wenatchee held this honor Friday night because the series, though being played here, was scheduled for Wenatchee and had only been transferred because of the Chiefs’ financial embarrassment.
On Saturday, it was agreed to “let” the Caps become the home club for the remainder of the series (it concludes tonight with a Family Night session at the Stadium at 8:15).
BALLS COST MONEY
Why? Well, the home team must furnish the baseballs and Wenatchee found that the balls cost them $30 out of their split on Friday. Thus, they figured as how they weren’t getting anywhere in their battle with the almighty dollar and graciously allowed the Caps to be the home team—and pay for the baseballs. The cost Saturday night was about $50, but there were 2637 people there it was easy to take.
There was the interesting picture of Bud Guldborg, the Caps’ biggest winner, go down to an inglorious second game defeat at the hands of the Wenatchees.
CHIEFS BAD MEDICINE
It turns out, in fact, that of all the clubs Bud fears in this league, he holds poor old Wenatchee in the greatest dread. He scoffs at the idea of pitching against Victoria, for he figures he can beat the league leaders just by throwing his glove on the field. But Wenatchee, the cellar-dwellers, he just can’t beat.
Guldborg got himself a fat 4-0 lead in the second inning of this game and handed it right back. The Chiefs belted him around until they got him out of there in the seventh and eventually won it, 8-5.
On top of all this, there was a rather comical closing incident to the 10-2 first game. The Caps were having their last “at bats” in the eighth when Bob Duretto punched a long fly ball towards the right field fence.
COULD HAVE EARNED
Frank Dasso gave chase to it and got a glove on the drive. It bounced out, however, hit the fence with a wallop everyone in the park heard and then bounced back into Dasso’s glove.
Base umpire Ray Jacobs immediately raised his thumb for an “out” call, and the whole park came down with the titters. Jacobs later admitted, “I might have kicked that one.” Sort of an overstatement, would you say?
DIAMOND DUST—Ed Locke picked up the first game victory, his ninth of the year, too … Bob Snyder will pitch for Vancouver tonight in the closing game of the series … Dad pays and the rest of the family gets in free on this Family Night arrangement … John Ritchey was hit on his bad ankle in the second game and withdrew in favor of the Caps’ new rookie catcher, Jim Leavitt.
[In the opener, John Ritchey knocked in four runs with a pair of singles, while Edo Vanni had a double and two singles, and Ed Locked tripled and singled. Lyle Palmer doubled and singled with for Wenatchee in the finale. Ray Tran had a two-run single in the second inning].
First game
Wenatchee ... 000 002 0—2 5 0
Vancouver .... 630 010 x—11 12 1
Bauhofer, Kapp (2) and Pocekay; Locke and Ricthey.
Second game
Wenatchee .... 003 011 300—8 11 2
Vancouver ..... 040 001 000—5 8 2
Dahle and Pocekay; Guldborg, Locke (6) and Ritchey, Leavitt (8)

LEWISTON, Aug. 16 — Tri-City outlasted Lewiston in a grueling, run-for-run, 13-inning Western International League ball game Saturday night and squeezed a 5-4 victory.
Brave pitch Ralph Romero went the entire distance for Tri-City as he gave up 11 hits, fanned 13 and issued five walks, including three intentional passes.
Both teams scored one run-in the third inning. Tri-City equaled Lewiston's sixth inning run with a counter in the eighth and both clubs pushed across two tallies in the 10th.
The Broncs loaded the bases with two out in the 13th and then saw the threat disappear when Snag Moore hit into a force-out.
The Braves' winning run came when Joe Scalise stole home after arriving at third on a series of walks and sacrifices.
Tri-City ...... 001 000 010 200 1—5 12 3
Lewiston .... 001 001 000 200 0—4 11 2
Romero and Pesut; Nicholas, Powell (1), and Helmuth, Lundberg (8).
LP-Powell.

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