Saturday, July 13, 1946

                W  L  Pct GB
Salem ........ 51 31 .622 —
Wenatchee .... 51 33 .607 1
Bremerton .... 43 28 .606 2½
Tacoma ....... 43 34 .558 5½
Spokane ...... 34 35 .492 10½
Yakima ....... 32 43 .427 15½
Vancouver .... 28 49 .364 20½
Victoria ..... 27 56 .325 24½

VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, News-Herald, July 15]—Salem Senators, being W.I.L. leaders, naturally don’t have to go out of their way to seek favors from anybody. But as they pulled out of Vancouver Sunday, there were sending up humble thanks to the baseball gods that our Capilanos have just one fellow named Ray Orteig. And because we have a fellow named Orteig, the Solons were greatful to escape with an even-break in their six-game series here.
Ted Gullic’s visitors picked up their series draw with an 8-6 victory over the locals in the first game of Saturday night’s twin bill, but Orteig and Co., spurred on by an enthusiastic capacity house, were closing in at the finish. Time ran out on the locals, but they beat Steve Gerkin, the ex-Philadelphia Athletic, in the nightcap, 6-5.
JUST A START
But about Orteig. The husky third-sacker, you will remember, had quite a night for himself Saturday. After striking out his first time up, he banged out four straight hits, including two home runs and a triple. Well, apparently his Friday performance just gave him an appetite.
He came up five times in the first game Saturday. He walked twice and rapped out two more four-baggers and a single. That stretched his consecutive hitting streak to seven, and incidentally brought the Caps from behind an 8-1 deficit Salem built up on the offerings of John Marshall.
HE HAD HELP
However, as we said, the locals didn’t quite make it, despite the fact that Al Kretchmar also gave Orteig a hand with four-ply swats. So that brings us to the second game and Orteig again.
The first time up he singled down the third base line. Second time up he singled again, down the first base line, Third time up, he powered a line drive to centre field, and, after nine straight safeties, was caught out. If the Salems had salaamed right then and there, nobody would have blamed them.
Almost lost in the glare of our hero’s bright lights and shining feats were the commendable deeds of some of his teammates. F’ristance Frank Mullens, who homered as he collected four-for-four Friday, stretched his consecutive hitting streak to six, and smacked two more four-masters, on in each game.
SPURGEON BACK
Ray Spurgeon, back in catching harness after a much-needed rest, came up with two prodigious doubles in the nightcap; and Pete Jonas, in his first hurling stint, relieved Marshall in the first game and pitched five and two-thirds innings of four-hit, shutout ball.
It was a fairly satisfying evening, in spite of Mr. Marshall’s troubles, and left the Caps in a happy mood for their seven-game stand at Yakima starting Tuesday. After breaking even with the tough Tacoma Tigers and Salem, the second-division stars, who come back here with the Caps the following week, might look good to Eddie Carnett’s boys.
- - -
VANCOUVER, July 13 - The Vancouver Capilanos split a double-header tonight with the Salem Senators, Western International League leaders. Caps rallied to eke out a 6-5 win in the seven-inning nightcap after Salem won the first, 8-6.
Despite four homers in the first game, Vancouver was unable to defeat Salem, mainly due to the Senators' five-run outburst in the fourth inning.
Two of the homers came from Ray Orteig, who was a perfect three-for-three for Vancouver. Frank Mullens and Al Kretchmar hit the others.
In the nightcap, Mullens got another homer and Catcher Woody Salmon hit one out of the park for the Senators.
Ray Spurgeon returned to the line-up for Vancouver and put dents in the left field fence twice with doubles to bring in three runs.
Orteig had singled in his first two at-bats in the finale, giving him nine consecutive hits, and setting a WIL record.
First Game
Salem ............. 210 500 000—7 11 0
Vancouver ....... 010 200 302—6 10 2
Wyatt and Salmon; Marshall, Jonas (4) and Brenner.
Second Game
Salem ............. 010 210 1—5 10 1
Vancouver ....... 001 481 x—6 9 1
Gerkin and Salmon; Palica and Spurgeon.

SPOKANE, July 13—Spokane Indians got only six hits off Wenatchee's Chuck Cronin, but bunched five of them for as many runs in the seventh inning to defeat the Chiefs, 5-3, in a Western International League game here tonight.
Wenatchee ......... 000 010 101—3 9 2
Spokane ............. 000 000 50x—5 6 0
Cronin and Pesut; Cadinha and Paglia, Verrelman (8).

VICTORIA, July 13—The Tacoma Tigers snapped a four-game losing string with a pair one one-run victories at Victoria Saturday, picking up a 5-4 win in then opener and a 2-1 victory in the finale. Bob Jensen was the hard-luck loser in the night game, as he struck out 13 Tacomans. One of the strike-outs led to the game's first run in the seventh. He whiffed the first three hitters but the third strike to Bob Joratz was a wild pitch, enabling the runner to reach first. Successive singles to Sutak and Cliff Clifford sent the runner over. Kuper homered in the eighth for the winning count.
The Athletics made a bid for the game in their half as Jensen started it by cracking a terrific triple to left field with one out. Vic Buccola walked and Jensen scored as Eddie Murphy singled into centre. One of Hal Jungbluth's downers got away from Kuper and Murphy broke for second, only to find Vic Buccola still standing there, and was run down for the final out.
Jimmy Dumeah made his first pro start in the afternoon game and was treated roughly in the first three frames, as Tacoma scored four times, once on a homer by Hank Valle. He escaped further trouble until the sixth when he walked two and manager Ted Norbert sent in Joe Blankenship.
A pair of errors by the usually reliable Pete Hughes in left accounted for the fith and winning run in the seventh.
The Athletics teed off on Bob Hedington in the first inning with Frank Cirimele, Buccola and Murphy hitting consecutive singles and Hughes following with a double to score two. A sacrifice fly added a third run.
A base error by third baseman Marvin Scott allowed Victoria to come within one run in the ninth but the tying and winning runs died on the sacks when pinch-hitter Neil Clifford lined out to the pitcher.
First game
Tacoma ........... 211 000 100—5 11 1
Victoria ........... 300 000 001—4 8 2
Hedington and Kemper; Dumeah, Blankenship (6) and Paulson.
Second game
Tacoma ........... 000 000 110—2 8 1
Victoria ........... 000 000 010—1 5 1
Jungbluth and Kemper; Jensen and Clifford.

YAKIMA, July 13—Yakima and Bremerton battled through a sensational 17-inning Western International League game here Saturday night which ended in a 7-7 deadlock when a curfew called a halt to the hostilities.
The home club fought back to knot the count at 2-2 in the lead of the ninth and then tied it again in the tenth after allowing the Cruisers two runs in their half. The next three innings were scoreless but the Bremerton scored three in the fourteenth before Yakima's Bill Garbe hit an improbable three-run home in the bottom of the inning to tie the game again.
Bremerton ....... 010 000 000 200 030 10—7 10 1
Yakima ........... 000 000 001 200 030 10—7 11 0
Lowman, Medeghini (14) and Volpi; Romple, Kasepchuk (10), McHugh ( ) and McConnell.

WIL Leaders Expect 100,000
SALEM, Ore., July 13—With four home series remaining on their schedule, the Salem Senators, current leaders of the Western International League, appear to be a cinch to attract 100,000 fans into Waters Park during the 1946 season.
The Senators in six series at home this year have drawn 59,927. Previous high was in the 1940, when the city's first professional team drew 54,000.