Chavarria, red-hot offense power LCSC baseball to win

Right-hander Eric Chavarria has only been pitching for upwards of a year-and-a-half.

It’s early, but the junior Cypress Community College (Calif.) transfer already is trending toward a status as the go-to guy for 19th-ranked Lewis-Clark State.

Chavarria improved to 3-0 — and chopped his ERA down to 1.00 in 18 innings — with a five-strikeout effort in six innings, in which he allowed just two baserunners on 77 pitches and got a whole mess of offensive backing during the Warriors’ 12-0 rout of NAIA West opponent College of Idaho on Friday at Harris Field.

“He gave us his third consecutive quality outing, and he keeps getting stronger with more innings under his belt,” L-C coach Jake Taylor said of the former infielder. “He has a real good feel for it. He pitches like he’s pitched a lot longer than the last year, year-and-a half.”

Chavarria sat down the Yotes (6-16, 2-3 NAIA West) in order in four innings, pitching quickly and inducing several groundouts and pop flys in a game that lasted only a little more than two hours.

“The quicker I can get off the mound, the better for our team,” Chavarria said. “Get back in the dugout as quick as possible, it helps our offense out a lot. That’s what they preach here.”

Of his three-pitch repertoire, the curveball was particularly deadly.

“It was big-time for me,” he said. “They were having a tough time swinging at it, looking at it.”

Meanwhile, the Warriors (8-5, 3-2) exhibited an offensive pep to their step instantaneously, and didn’t cool off until a massive lead was built.

Big-hitting Lewiston High School grad Luke White fell a single short of the cycle, going 3-for-4. An eighth-inning grounder into a double play with White on deck prohibited another crack at it.

Jack Johnson extended his hitting streak to 13 with a 3-for-5 day, including his fourth home run in the second inning. Aidan Nagle had a two-run, two-strike shot in the first, and Brock Ephan homered as every player in LCSC’s lineup reached base at least once. Courtesy runner Coy Stout — a Genesee High School grad — scored three times.

Ephan and White belted homers to kick off the third. Two batters later, Jaden Phillips roped a single to left field to score Zach Needham and stretch the Warriors’ advantage to 9-0.

C of I managed five hits, four off reliever Bryson Spagnuolo, who worked out of a pair of jams to preserve the shutout and earn a three-inning save. Yotes starter Dimick Wood was battered for all 12 of the Warriors’ runs and all 13 hits in 4 innings.

“That was a pretty good effort, all around,” Taylor said. “Top-to-bottom, I liked our production offensively. We had a lot of guys produce, and give us quality at-bats — over the entire lineup, not just a couple of guys.”

The Yotes’ relief staff went a clean 3ž innings, but the damage already had been done. On four hits, L-C totaled six runs in the first two innings. AJ Davis led off with a double in the first, and Nagle followed with his home run to right-center on a 3-2 pitch.

Even at that early juncture, it was clear LCSC’s offense was hot, and with Chavarria again pitching stellar, there was little doubt.

“It was a pretty good sign to start, and we just kept it going,” Taylor said. “College of Idaho will be ready to go tomorrow, so we’ll enjoy this one, then get back out there.”

The two meet again at noon today for a doubleheader.

COLLEGE OF IDAHO    LEWIS-CLARK STATE

    ab    r    h    bi        ab    r    h    bi

Hansen 1b    3    0    0    0    Davis ss    3    1    1    1

McGrath ph    1    0    0    0    Johnson 3b    5    1    3    3

Hultberg rf    4    0    0    0    Nagle rf    4    1    1    3

Nolan ss    4    0    2    0    Fuller c        0    0    0

Mooney pr    0    0    0    0    Sheward pr    0    0    0    0

Miller c    3    0    1    0    Ephan 1b    5    1    2    1

Jensen pr    3    0    1    0    Way 2b    4    0    0    0

Dudley dh    3    0    0    0    White dh    4    3    3    1

Pannullo ph    1    0    0    0    Harum cf    3    2    1    1

Clay lf    3    0    0    0    Needham c    2    0    1    0

Denison 3b    3    0    1    0    Stout pr    0    3    0    0

Van Horne 2b    3    0    0    0    Phillips lf    3    0    1    1

Vieira cf    3    0    1    0

Totals    31    0    5    0    Totals    33    12    13    11

College of Idaho    000   000   000—0   5   1

Lewis-Clark State    243   030   00x—12   13   0

College of Idaho    ip    h    r    er    bb    so

Wood (L, 1-4)    4.1    13    12    12    2    3

Brewer    1.2    0    0    0    1    0

Tighe    1.0    0    0    0    0    1

Duffy    1.0    0    0    0    0    0

Lewis-Clark State    ip    h    r    er    bb    so

Chavarria (W, 3-0)    6.0    1    0    0    1    5

Spagnuolo (S, 1)    3.0    4    0    0    0    2

Attendance — 210.

Clark may be reached at cclark@lmtribune.com, on Twitter @ClarkTrib or by phone at (208) 848-2260.