BASEBALL: Kalispell's Pistorese called up to Bakersfield

Kalispell native Joe Pistorese struck out the side in back-to-back innings in his California League debut on Wednesday night.

Pistorese was promoted to the Bakersfield Blaze, the Class A Advanced affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, earlier on Wednesday and continued his brilliant season. He struck out six of the seven batters he faced and earned the win in Bakersfield’s 1-0 victory over the Visalia Rawhide.

The lefty reliever started the year at Class A Clinton (Iowa), posting a 0.49 ERA in 18.1 innings, allowing just 10 hits and two walks while striking out 23.

The 2011 Flathead High School graduate was picked by the Mariners in the 17th round of the 2015 Major League Baseball entry draft after completing a stellar college career at Washington State. In 30 appearances over two professional seasons, Pistorese is 8-0 with a tidy 0.97 ERA and minuscule 0.74 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched). He pitched last season for Seattle’s Rookie League affiliate, the Everett Aqua Sox.

Pistorese was suspended 50 games last September after testing positive for an amphetamine, a violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. He claims the positive test was the result of an unapproved medication to treat his diagnosed attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.