DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH starting pitcher Chris George was knocked out in the fourth inning as he and Mike Peck allowed eight Air Force runs.
The Air Force Academy Falcons had not enjoyed an outing like this in more than two weeks and had not scored more than four runs in a game in their last six contests. Air Force whips
Rainbows 11-4By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com
All that changed last night as the Falcons backed right-hander Paul Vignola's mound effort with a 16-hit attack that included a hit by every starter.
Standings: Lewis-Clark State, 3-0; Air Force, 2-1; Hawaii, 1-2; Western Illinois, 0-3 Schedule and results
Tuesday: Lewis-Clark State 3, Air Force 2; Hawaii 9, Western Illinois 1
Wednesday: Air Force 4, Western Illinois 2; Lewis-Clark State 3, Hawaii 2, 10 inn.
Yesterday: Lewis-Clark State 12, Western Illinois 1; Air Force 11, Hawaii 4
Today: Semifinals--Western Illinois vs. Lewis-Clark State, 2:30 p.m.; Hawaii vs. Air Force, 6:35 p.m.
Tomorrow: Third place 2:30 p.m.; Championship, 6:35 p.m.
Note: UH plays at 6:35 p.m. regardless of results. All UH games live on KFVE (Channel 5) and KKEA (1420 AM).
The 11-4 victory over Hawaii in the final round-robin game of the Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament gave the Falcons (10-16) the second seed in today's semifinals. They play the Rainbows (15-14) at 6:35 tonight with the winner advancing to tomorrow's championship game.
Vignola, a freshman from Las Vegas, struck out a career-high 10 batters, the most by an AFA pitcher this season, and issued just one walk. He bedeviled UH hitters with an assortment of breaking pitches and the occasional fastball.
Tony Shockley led the AFA offense by hitting for the cycle and knocking in three runs.
The Falcons found UH starter Chris George's offerings very much to their liking in the fourth inning, rocking the 'Bows' top winner for six runs and six hits, four of them for extra bases.
Daniel Petro drove George's first pitch of the inning into the left-field corner for a double. Shockley lofted the next pitch over the right-field wall some 335 feet from home plate to break a scoreless tie. It was his third homer of the season.
Bowie Frost ripped George's fourth pitch down the left-field line for a double and scored on Nelson Prouty's line single to center. Prouty stole second and scored easily on Adam Howes' line-drive double into the left-field corner.
Howes took third on a wild pitch and scored when Zach McAngus' slow roller toward short was fielded by Brian Finegan but thrown wide of first. McAngus stole second and came home on a ground single to right by Mike Rose. Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso had seen enough and called Mike Peck in from the bullpen.
Josh Phifer took one look at Peck's first pitch and deposited it over the center-field fence for a two-run homer, his eighth of the season, and an 8-0 Air Force lead. It was the biggest inning by a UH opponent this year.
In the bottom of the inning the Rainbows finally started to zone in on the pitches of Vignola, who had retired nine of the first 10 UH batters he faced. He entered the game as the Falcons' top pitcher with a 4-2 record and a typical but solid Air Force earned run average of 6.98.
Andrew Sansaver singled to center for Hawaii's first hit and moved to third on Brent Cook's double into the left-field corner. Rocky Russo looped a ball into right-center for a single that scored Sansaver and sent Cook to third. Cook then came home on Josh Green's sacrifice fly.
Lewis-Clark State 12, Western Illinois 1: After squeezing out two victories in their final at bat the last two days, the Warriors (23-4) scored in every inning yesterday to easily defeat the Leathernecks (9-13) and remain the only undefeated team in the tournament.
The teams concluded the round-robin portion of the tournament at opposite ends of the standings and play again today in the first semifinal game at 2:30 p.m.
Hawaii and Air Force will meet in the second semifinal at 6:35 p.m.
Note: Next year the Rainbow Easter Tournament will move to the first week of March and will be a four-team affair once again. Joining UH in the field are Oklahoma State, Oregon State and Chicago State.
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