Saturday, September 5, 1953

W L Pct. GB
Lewiston .... 40 28 .588 —
Spokane ..... 43 31 .581 —
Yakima ...... 37 32 .536 3½
Salem ....... 38 33 .535 3½
Vancouver ... 40 35 .533 3½
Edmonton .... 36 33 .522 5½
Calgary ..... 32 37 .464 8½
Tri-City .... 31 40 .437 10½
Wenatchee ... 29 39 .426 11
Victoria .... 28 44 .389 14

LEWISTON, Sept. 5—Pitching before the largest crowd in Lewiston’s organised baseball history, 3,035, Russ Butler turned in a perfect game tonight, when he blanked the Spokane Indians 4-0.
The win put the Broncs .007 percentage points ahead of the Indians in first place in the Western International League.
Only five fair balls were hit to the outfield off the 25-year-old right-hander. Two of the blows, by Stan Palys and Jimmy Brown in the eighth inning, were hauled down after long runs by Al Heist and Mel Wasley.
Butler struck out 11.
The Broncs picked up 10 hits against starter Bill Franks and reliever Bill Nemes, scoring two runs in the first inning and single tallies in the third and fifth frames.
It is believed to be the first perfect game in all of baseball this season.
The no-hitter was the first by a Lewiston pitcher in the club’s two-year history in the WIL. The gem also was the eleventh win against ten losses for Butler, who was selected as the No. 1 rookie in the Pioneer League in 1952, when he won 21 games for Pocatello.
Butler is the property of the St. Louis Browns.
The Broncs now lead 2-1 in the crucial series and the two teams will meet Sunday for the clincher in their rivalry.
Spokane ............ 000 000 000—0 0 0
Lewiston ........... 201 010 00x—4 10 9
Franks, Nemes (3) and Sheets; Butler and Garay.

WENATCHEE — Wenatchee poured five runs across the plate in the eighth inning to defeat Yakima 6-1 in a Western International League baseball game Saturday night.
Yakima ............. 001 000 000—1 6 1
Wenatchee ....... 001 000 05x—6 6 1
Rios and Albini; Bowman and Bartolomei.

CALGARY, Alta. — The Salem Senators gained a split of Saturday's doubleheader in their Western International League baseball series in Calgary by trimming the Calgary Stampeders 9-1 in the nightcap. Calgary took the first fame 11-6.
First Game
Salem ........... 121 200 111—9 18 1
Calgary ......... 000 000 100—1 7 6
Nicholas and Nelson; Schultz and Lillard.
Second Game
Salem ............ 002 020 011— 6 12 1
Calgary .......... 310 070 00x—11 13 0
Roenspie, Borst (3), Hemphill (6) and Nelson; Orrell and Lillard.

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Eskimos wound up their home appearance of the 1953 Western International Baseball League campaign Saturday with a clean sweep of a daylight doubleheader with the Tri-City Braves. Edmonton took the first game 3-2 and the second 3-1.
Andy Skurski posted a six-for-six performance for the winners, in addition to stealing his 33rd and 34th bases.
First Game
Tri-City ............... 121 000 0—4 8 1
Edmonton ............ 000 300 x—3 4 0
Robertson and Warren; Conant and Morgan.
Second Game
Tri-City .............. 100 000 000—1 10 0
Edmonton ........... 030 000 00x—3 8 0
Bloom and Pesut; McNulty and Morgan.

VICTORIA [Doug Peden, Colonist, Sept. 6]—Despite the urgent appeal by officials of the Victoria Tyees for an average attendance of 2,000 for each of the Tyees’ final four games at Royal Athletic Park in order to meet salary commitments, only 2,601 spectators bought tickets for the four “payroll” games.
Saturday’s double-header, which officials had counted upon to produce a big turnout, attracted 582 paying customers for the afternoon game and 687 for the night contest.
PAYROLL MET
Although declining to make a definite statement regarding future plans for the local WIL club, business manager Reg Patterson disclosed Saturday night that enough money had been obtained to meet the players’ salaries.
While preferring that any official announcement come from club-president Arthur Cox, who could not be reached for comment Saturday night, Patterson did say “I do not think Victoria will be without baseball next year.”
CAPS NO HELP
The Vancouver Capilanos, along with baseball fans, refused to co-operate in making the Tyees’ final home series a successful one, completing a sweep of a four-game series by taking both ends of Saturday’s twin bill. The results gave Vancouver a record of 16 victories in their 26 meetings with the Tyees this season.
Pete Hernandez picked up his 17th win in 27 decisions with a four-hit, 9-1 triumph over the Tyees in the afternoon and Rod MacKay won out over Bill Prior, 2-0, when the Victoria defence collapsed in the ninth inning of the nightcap.
Harvey Storey, leading off for the Caps in the ninth, gained credit for a double when outfielders Granny Gladstone and Dwane Helbig allowed his fly ball to drop between them. Nick Castas [was] sent in to run for Storey and scored when the next batter, Gene Petralli, lined a single to right. Errors by Milt Martin and Lu Branham gave the Capilanos their insurance runs.
SUPPORT BAD
Bill Bottler took the loss in the afternoon contest, giving up 14 hits as he went all the way in taking his 14th loss in 24 decisions. Although hit hard, Bottler was the victim of shoddy fielding that gave the winners four unearned runs.
Hernandez lost his shutout in the seventh inning when he threw wide past second base in an attempt for a double play after catching Dwane Helbig’s liner. Don Pries, who had opened up the inning with a double, sprinted across the plate on the error.
The Tyees wind up their season with a three-game series in Lewiston, playing two games Monday night and a single contest Tuesday.
First Game
Vancouver ............ 202 010 202—9 14 3
Victoria ................ 000 000 100—1 4 5
Hernandez and Duretto, Leavitt (8); Bottler and Harford.
Second Game
Vancouver ............ 000 000 002—2 9 1
Victoria ................ 000 000 000—0 11 3
MacKay and Duretto; Prior and Martin.

Spokane Pitcher Fails to Duck, Badly Winged
LEWISTON, Sept. 5—The Western International League Spokane Indians lost the service of their top relief pitcher John Cordell for the remainder of the 1953 season.
Manager Don Osborn announced today that the veteran left-hander was suffering from a cracked bone in his left leg.
Cordell was hit on the leg with a batted ball Thursday during the current Lewiston-Spokane series.
Cordell had won nine and lost seven.