They were one loss from elimination Friday afternoon but the West Plains Wolves felt perfectly at home After falling a game behind Andrews in a best-of-three Class 4A Division I bi-district series the Wolves came home needing two straight wins to continue their season Reid Macon and Noah Vasquez provided the foundation for a sweep on the mound as they got real stingy in leading West Plains to 2-0 and 11-1 wins which completed a 2-1 series victory West Plains (25-6-1) will face Mountain View in the area round next week in Seminole Considering that the Wolves lost only one game in District 4-4A play they had to carry a lot of confidence into the postseason that’s just their mindset,” West Plains coach Colby Chandler said. “That’s a risky take going home but fortunately we were able to get both of those here at home and took care of business.” The Wolves had no choice but to do that right away after Thursday’s 5-2 loss at Andrews (15-14) to open the series They gave up four runs in the bottom of the second to fall behind and never recovered Those four runs were three more than the Wolves gave up over 12 innings Friday Game two ended after only five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule Macon was the biggest reason West Plains was in position to win the series at the end of the day Things didn’t start of great for him as Daylon Jeffcoats led off the game by singling to left off Macon That was the only hit Macon gave up though Grayson Martindale then reached on an error Macon retired 19 straight batters to close the game Perhaps more impressive than that was that Macon threw only 58 pitches in seven innings incredible performance on the mound,” Chandler said “Ultimately we had to have that to save the rest of our staff We’ve got a lot of depth with this group and we weren’t worried about that.” Macon got all the support he needed when Alakai Carrillo led off the bottom of the second with a wind-aided solo homer to right field off hard-luck Andrews starter Trace Garcia The Wolves added an unearned run in the fifth when Boston Ladd’s sacrifice fly drove home Kaden Hooker The second game wasn’t nearly as suspenseful Jesse Flores and Ladd led off the bottom of the first with consecutive solo homers off Cole Ivison for a 2-0 lead that was enough support for Noah Vasquez who pitched in relief Thursday and went 3 2/3 innings for the win in the series clincher West Plains broke the game open with six runs in the fifth to knock out Ivison and gave up Carrillo’s two-run double which made it 11-0 and assured the run-rule margin “People asked if we were going to able to bounce back and there’s no doubt with this group,” Chandler said “It’s just the type of kids they are They shake it off and go on to the next game We told them to play two but take it one game at a time.” Press Pass Sports will provide fans a passionate and informed look at high school college and professional sports impacting the Texas Panhandle © 2022 All Rights Reserved. Press Pass Sports is a division of jpegJoe Licensing, LLC On the diamond: The West Plains talented infielder had a great week helping guide the Wolves to an unbeaten 14-0 record through district play and the programs first ever 4-4A championship in only their third year During a 16-2 thumping of Borger and Pampa last week Ladd was on fire at the plate going a perfect 5-for-5 with two home runs the multi-sport junior is hitting .301 with three homers to go with 25 runs scored and nine stolen bases West Plains will open the UIL Class 4A Division I playoffs with Andrews in a best-of-three series starting Thursday Coach Colby Chandler “Winning a district title for the first time is such a huge step for this program We were third in the first year and second last year We are checking off goals and winning district was one of them He makes plays some guys can’t make and has a very high baseball IQ He’s stepped up into a leadership role and he’s a player the team depends on Ladd: “It mean a lot to us as a team to win that district title for the first time ever We play in a great district and it’s a hard thing to do We have been climbing since we started as freshman and we’re heading in the right direction I just want to continue stepping up in my leadership on this team and playing all the sports with my friends We have had a lot of success and it’s been a lot of fun.” Favorite band or musician: Zach Bryan Favorite social media platform: Instagram Bet you didn’t know: He wishes he could play hockey A fatal shooting last week on the West Plains stemmed from an argument among Amazon workers walking to work made his first appearance Wednesday afternoon in Spokane County District Court on a second-degree murder charge in the killing of 24-year-old Hasani Vita District Court Judge Patrick Johnson found probable cause to support the murder charge against Baldwin and maintained his bond at $1 million Baldwin wore yellow Spokane County Jail clothing and appeared on a courtroom screen from the jail with his attorney sitting beside him at the short hearing a witness who was standing at a bus stop on Hayford Road and Geiger Boulevard arguing and walking toward the Amazon warehouse the afternoon of April 21 The witness said Baldwin removed his hoodie was “verbally challenging” Vita and appeared to be the “aggressor,” court records show but then all three men got back together and continued walking along Hayford Road toward the warehouse The witness said he looked away for a moment assuming everything was fine among the men Vita ran into Hayford Road before slowing and falling in the street while Baldwin and Washington started running toward the Amazon parking lot Another witness was driving on Hayford Road by the warehouse when she saw three men approaching the Amazon property A deputy reported finding Vita lying unresponsive and bleeding heavily in the road with multiple gunshots to the face and torso Another deputy searched for the other two men and found Baldwin crouching in brush in a field east of the Amazon warehouses The deputy reported Baldwin was shirtless and appeared to have just been running He told a detective he was riding a bus with Washington before the shooting Washington told him about getting into an argument with a man Vita got on the same bus with Baldwin and Washington at some point during their ride to Amazon Washington and Vita continued to argue on the bus The three men got off the bus and walked together toward their workplace Baldwin said Vita told him to mind his own business Baldwin had been wearing a blue zippered hoodie and a gray button-up shirt underneath Washington then started “getting into it” with Vita who picked up a rock and said something about having a gun and shooting them “Someone” pulled a gun and started shooting He said he didn’t know which man had a gun or fired shots STA surveillance footage in court documents showed Vita Baldwin and Washington getting off an STA bus at about 2:07 p.m the three men were standing together on the side of Hayford Road Another Amazon employee told deputies he was at the STA Plaza in downtown Spokane earlier that day and saw Washington and Vita arguing Washington started to record the other man with his cellphone during the argument so Vita slapped the phone out of Washington’s hand Washington and the other man were about to fight A detective found a blue zippered hooded sweatshirt and a light gray button-up sweatshirt on the ground near the shooting scene A handgun holster was inside one of the pockets of the blue hooded sweatshirt found at the scene The detective found Baldwin’s Amazon ID card a black lunchbox that Baldwin had on the bus and a multicolored shirt along Baldwin’s apparent route running from the shooting Officers did not find guns or fired cartridge casings at the scene Law enforcement agencies arrested Baldwin Tuesday night in north Spokane according to a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office news release The page described Vita as “a very kind-hearted and loving person who was loved by those around him.” “The people he came to meet always seemed to be uplifted by his enthusiastic personality and energetic spirit,” the GoFundMe said Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens TDS Telecommunications continues expanding its high-speed all-fiber internet network into more Spokane-area neighborhoods © Copyright 2025, The Spokesman-Review | Community Guidelines | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy Law enforcement agencies arrested a 21-year-old man Tuesday night in connection to the shooting and killing of 24-year-old Hasani Vita over a week ago on the West Plains according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Baldwin was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder after the U.S Marshals Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force and the sheriff’s office located and arrested Baldwin about 6 p.m the sheriff’s office said in a news release The sheriff’s office said last week it believed the shooting started as a disagreement between individuals who knew each other and it quickly escalated Deputies responded the afternoon of April 21 to the shooting near West Geiger Boulevard and South Hayford Road according to a previous news release from the sheriff’s office The caller advised a man shot another man and that two or three people He died at the scene outside the Amazon sorting center