Eugene Haas releases a pitch during the game against the Newport Grizzlies on March 29. Haas came in and closed the final inning with one strikeout to his name.
MEDICAL LAKE – The Medical Lake baseball team had a busy week swinging bats as they overwhelmed the Newport Grizzlies 11-1 on March 29 and dismantled the Liberty Lancers 15-1 on March 31.
The Cardinals hitters created early offense against Newport, scoring six runs in the first two innings. Andrew Roberts led the attack with a two-strike bases-loaded double to deep center field in the bottom of the second, bringing home Jalijah Meacham, Luke Dickey and Kaleb Cain. Andrews finished with four RBI in the game.
"The guys were motivated to win, and our defense made the plays that needed to be made," Head Coach Austin Sharp said. "Extra focus during batting practice helped our guys stay patient and work on their timing when at the plate."
Newport held the Cardinals scoreless in the third, but the Grizzlies could only tally one run.
Medical Lake scored two more runs in the fourth inning thanks to a heavy bat from Joe Oliver and some unforced errors from the Grizzly defense, bringing the score to 8-1 Cardinals.
In the fifth inning, Cameron Comer stepped up to the plate with Eugene Haas and Kain in scoring position. Looking at a 1-1 count, Comer smacked a ground ball to the second baseman, scoring both of his teammates. A base on balls to Roberts moved Comer to second base. Joe Griffey closed out the scoring when he hit a line-drive single to left field, bringing Comer across the dish and making it 11-1 Medical Lake.
"Their second pitcher slowed us down for about an inning or so and then we figured him out," Sharp said. "Then we started hitting the ball pretty well off of him. Our offense did well, and our defense and pitching looked good and we needed that league win to bounce back from the losses to Colville."
Griffey got the start and the win for Medical Lake throwing 80 pitches through four innings and racking up eight strikeouts. He gave up one run on four hits and walked five batters.
Medical Lake 15
Liberty 1
The dominating gameplay continued for the Cardinals when they took on the Lancers two days later.
Medical Lake posted five runs in the first inning due to three hit batters and Liberty defensive errors.
Liberty's center fielder brought some momentum back to their dugout when he caught a deeply driven ball and threw a laser beam to the catcher, who tagged out Taylor Oliver to complete the double play when Oliver was trying to score.
"They got one kid out there, their center fielder, who really knows how to play. There were two baseballs that kid tracked down about five feet from the wall," Sharp said. "And he made some great plays on those balls to keep extra runs from scoring."
The Lancers changed pitchers in the second inning after Oliver was plunked.
The Liberty reliever was ineffective, giving up 10 runs over the next three innings.
"They had a couple of off-speed pitchers that we were able to adjust to," said Coach Sharp. "We struggled with a similar pitcher against Colville, but we were able to hit well against the off-speed pitches against the Lancers."
Comer came away with the win for Medical Lake, throwing eight strikeouts in four innings. The wins improved the Cardinals to 7-2 on the season.
Inclement weather conditions canceled the April 2 doubleheader between Medical Lake and Deer Park. The games will be rescheduled at a later date.
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