COULEE CITY — The Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors (7-5) swept the Wilbur-Creston-Keller Wildcats on Tuesday 20-1 and 16-1 in a doubleheader. It was a good win for the Warriors, who were coming off tough losses over the weekend against Kittitas and Asotin, Head Coach Hunter Lee said.  

“We had kind of a tough weekend. We lost on a walk off on Friday night and a game that we could have, (or) should have won, if some plays would have (gone) our way. Then (we) had a really tough one on Saturday; we kind of got blown out. To come back to league games and take care of business was really good. It was a good bounce back for us,” he said.  

The Warriors started fast game one, taking a 10-0 lead by the end of the second inning. The Wildcats scored a run in the top of the third, but ACH strung together 10 more runs to secure their first win in five innings. Almira/Coulee-Hartline doubled down in game two, this time taking the win in four innings. Lee was pleased with the performance of freshmen Eli Edwards and Haydon Boyd on the pitching mound. 

“We used some of our older guys in those weekend games, so we kind of needed (Edwards and Boyd) to step up, and they did a great job,” Lee said.  

In game one, Edwards pitched all five innings. He allowed just four hits, one run and zero walks and struck out four batters. Boyd took over in game two, allowing two hits, one run and one walk and struck out nine batters in four innings. Lee was also pleased with the progress the offense made Tuesday.  

“We swung it really well top to bottom; Josh Booker had three triples on the day. We had a bunch of guys that swung it really well. We had 14 hits in the first one, and then we had 11 in the second one,” he said.  

Getting home three times in game one was Max Grindy, Nolan Grindy, Brody Pitts and Booker, who also tied with Nolan with four RBIs. Two of his three triple plays came in game one as the Warriors stormed their way to a commanding lead.  

“He's a great player. He's played well for us for a number of years now with him being a senior. He had a great Tuesday; he was awesome at the plate. He's a great kid too. I think he might be our valedictorian ... he's going to do a lot of special things in his life,” Lee said.  

Also getting home in game one was Caden Correia, Harvest Parrish, Luke Goetz, Levi Oliver, Edwards and Boyd.  

In game two, five players came home twice while Booker led the team with three runs. By the end of the third inning, ACH jumped out to a 9-1 lead over the Wildcats. Boyd led another scoreless inning at the top of the fourth to set up the Warriors for a strong offensive inning.  

In the bottom of the fourth, Booker, Nolan, Parrish, Pitts, Boyd, Correia, and Jackson Elder got home for a seven-run inning which sealed their second win of the day and the doubleheader sweep.  

The Warriors look ahead to a busy schedule, where they face Kittitas on Friday, Waterville-Mansfield on Saturday, Tonasket on Monday and Lake Roosevelt on Thursday, all of which are on the road. From there, they will close their regular season campaign on May 2 at home when they host Odessa at noon.  

As Lee hopes to see his team start to peak heading into the postseason, he is confident they will handle the busy schedule thanks to their depth at pitching, he said. He noted while many teams may have two or three players pitch throughout the season, the Warriors have eight players who have pitched at least one inning this season.  

“We just have that luxury that we can play a bunch of games in a short amount of time, just because we have the arms to do it, and we have the confidence in those arms to get the job done,” Lee said.  

BOX SCORES: 

Game one  

WLBR: 0-0-1-0-0: 1 

ACHW: 4-6-4-6-*: 20 

Game two 

WLBR: 0-0-1-0: 1 

ACHW: 3-6-0-7: 16 

    The Warriors’ Cade Carstensen (5) gets set on defense at third base during a game against Royal earlier this season.
  

    Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors Head Coach Hunter Lee looks on while his team is at bat against the Royal Knights earlier this season.
  

    Harvest Parrish steps up to bat for the ACH Warriors earlier this season. Parrish scored four runs across two games against Wilbur-Creston-Keller Tuesday.