SPOKANE – Yakima Valley’s road to a repeat in the Senior Legion state championship hit a speed bump Saturday afternoon at Gonzaga Prep.

A rally in the bottom of the seventh inning fell short with the would-be tying run on base, and the Pak fell 5-3 to the Whatcom Baseball Club Post 7.

Yakima Valley falls into a loser-out contest Sunday morning at 8:30 against the Northeast 49ers. The 49ers, made up of players from the communities north of Spokane, fell to Lakeside 6-2 in the tournament’s opening contest.

Against the Bellingham-based Post 7, which the Pak defeated 6-1 earlier this month at the Brandy Pugh Memorial Tournament in Bellevue, Yakima Valley tied the score 1-1 in the first on Colby Graham’s solo home run.

The score remained tied until the top of the fifth when WBC scored three runs, with a dropped third strike and an error helped score three runs. Post 7 added another run in the sixth to take a 5-1 lead.

Graham walked to open the bottom of the seventh, and an error on Beau Benjamin’s grounder gave the Pak runners on second and third.

Alex Morales singled home both runners, and Bodie Yale reached on another error.

But a double play and a strikeout doused the Yakima Valley rally.

Graham and Morales each had two hits, and Grady Jansen added a triple for the Pak (27-11).

FASTPITCH

Diamond Cats win two games in Chehalis

CHEHALIS – The Yakima Diamond Cats won 2 of 3 games Saturday in the Summer Meltdown.

Yakima opened the day by beating Mercy 18U of Vancouver 3-2, and followed that with a 6-2 victory against Frost Elite (Gibbons) of Battle Ground, both in five innings.

Madi Statler and Calleigh Sinnes each had RBI doubles against Mercy, while Ainsley Johnson tripled in a run against Frost Elite.

Sophiya Castaneda added two hits and an RBI against the Battle Ground team.

Elise Heater gave up two hits and no earned runs while striking out six against Mercy, and Brooklynn Root tossed a one-hitter and struck out six against Frost Elite.

The Diamond Cats (19-9) begin single-elimination bracket play at 9 a.m. Sunday against Lydo’s Lab of Eugene, Ore.