By Quinn Allen

The Royals swung the bats extremely well all weekend down in Spokane, but failed to qualify for the NWAC Championships after going 1-2 over the weekend to end their 2018 campaign.

Game one on Friday afternoon saw Douglas take on Pierce Community College. The Royals banged out 16 hits on their way to an 8 to 6 win. Barry Caine put forward a gutsy performance on the mound, tossing seven innings, giving up five earned runs and ten hits while striking out six. Grant Okawa, Andrew Evernden, and Matteo Porcellato all had three hits apiece in the victory. Derrick Pecht got the win on the mound after coming into relieve Caine for two solid innings.

Game two for Douglas in the Super Regional on Saturday would be against the host school, Spokane Falls. Spokane edged the Royals in this one by a score of 6 to 2. Liam Mitchell would take the loss for the Royals on the mound, going seven innings, surrendering four earned runs and striking out six. Douglas was shut down by some good pitching on the Spokane side, who gave up just four hits to the Royals. Tom Melenchuk was the lone bright spot offensively for Douglas, going 2 for 4 at the plate with an RBI.

Douglas would end up playing a doubleheader on the Saturday, taking on Pierce CC right after their loss to Spokane. In a wild game filled with tons of offense from both teams, Pierce ended up getting the better of Douglas this time around with an 18 to 15 win. Both teams combined for an astounding 34 hits. Colton Tuka went four innings on the mound, giving up 13 hits and eight earned runs. Derrick Pecht come in to relieve Tuka and would take the loss for the Royals, going four innings while surrendering just two earned runs. Catcher Jake MacDonald led the offense for Douglas, going 3 for 6 with two RBI’s. The Royals had five players who had multiple hits in the loss.

The future looks promising as the Royals finished the season on a positive note offensively, combining for 34 hits in just three games in the Super Regional’s.