EJ baseball loses to Cascade Christian in baseball doubleheader

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After back-to-back games against Cascade Christian High School Friday, the East Jefferson Rivals boys team lost both to the baseball powerhouse.

The Rivals were blanked 7-0 in game one and were defeated 6-4 by the Cougars in extra innings during the second match.

“We had tremendous pitching. I was really happy with the team’s effort today, but a couple little mistakes left the door open for [Cascade Christian] and they took advantage of it,” EJ Head Coach Ben Lozano said.

After East Jefferson’s matchup Wednesday, April 20 at Cascade Christian was canceled, the Rivals and Cougars met up in Chimacum for a doubleheader with two five-inning games to settle the score.

Cascade Christian was considered the “home” team in the opening game and the Rivals started off at bat.

EJ was stifled in the first inning and the Cougars began their first at-bat of the day with the score knotted at nothing and Rivals pitcher Brody Moore on the mound.

The Cougars scored one run and had the bases loaded at one point, but a solid flyout by first baseman Owen Thornton minimized the damage. The game went to inning two with Cascade Christian in front, 1-0.

Other than a base hit from Sean Jones, EJ was countered again by the Cougars as they maintained their lead going into the bottom of the second inning.

Neither team scored again until the bottom of the third inning when an infield error from EJ led to another Cascade Christian run to put the score at 2-0.

The Rivals were held scoreless again in the fourth inning, and the Cougars tacked on five runs to essentially put the game out of reach for EJ.

Another strong showing from Cascade Christian’s infield kept the Rivals scoreless and finalized the front end of the doubleheader as a 7-0 Cougars victory.

In game two, the Cougars started the top of the first inning at bat.

Thornton took over pitching duties in the second game and shut out the Cougars in the opening inning.

Thornton continued to aid EJ during the bottom of the first inning, cracking a line drive through center field to get on base.

The Rivals had the bases loaded with two outs when third baseman Chris Fair had his turn at bat. Fair took a pitch to the body, which led to a walk and a run for Nate Nayler to give EJ a 1-0 advantage.

Outfielder Aaron Glanz connected with the ball for a well-placed infield hit to bring Thornton in for the RBI, and the opening inning finished with EJ on top 2-0.

Catches by Glanz and Nayler, along with a strikeout by Thornton, maintained EJ’s lead as they jogged to the dugout with a 2-0 advantage in the second stanza.

Moore was hit by the pitcher to get on base and stole second base, then Nayler popped a shot into right field to bring Moore home. Thornton added to EJ’s success with a hit down the left foul line to bring Nayler closer to home plate.

Marcus Ritch then popped a shot into center field to bring Nayler home as the final run in a dominating EJ inning. Going into the third, the Rivals were up 4-0.

The Cougars responded with four runs of their own in the third inning to tie the game.

Both teams struggled to score any more in the fourth and fifth innings, so the second game of the doubleheader went to extra innings.

In the top of the sixth, the Cougars tacked on two runs to go ahead with a 6-4 lead. EJ tried to tie it up but a quick strikeout and flyout put the Rivals in dire straits. Moore earned a double to give EJ a chance but another out iced the affair as a 6-4 loss for the Rivals.

Lozano wasn’t happy with the losses, but was very proud of his players for having a great performance against the Cougars, who are ranked second in the Nisqually League.

“I really, truly believe the team has improved greatly. We’ve been swinging the bats pretty good all season long and we continue to do that,” Lozano said.

“Cascade Christian is number two in the league and they’re a very good team,” he added. “For the most part, I think we’ve battled them all the way through in both games and they just got away from us. We can compete with them and I anticipate us playing this way for the remainder of the season, if not better.”

EJ was shorthanded in the doubleheader, missing a few key starters, including catcher Cash Holmes, who’s been battling a hip injury throughout the season.

“We were without our starting catcher Cash Holmes today but we had two catchers, Sean Jones and Peter Giddens, step up and do a tremendous job for us today,” the coach said. “We also had two freshman outfielders that came out there today, No. 5 Evan Kraft and No. 13 Hayden Montgomery, and they both did a great job in game one.

“Ben Lance got in there today for us. He played the right field and did a good job for us out there, and he swung the bat really nicely for us,”  Lozano added.

Holmes was expected to return to the baseball diamond early this week for an away game against Bellevue Christian High School.