Capping its 2A Evergreen Conference slate with a dub, the W.F. West baseball team defeated crosstown rival Centralia Tuesday afternoon, 5-0, to sweep the season series against the Tigers, three games to none.
The Bearcats used a trio of pitchers in the win, holding Centralia to zeroes across seven innings. Hunter Lutman got the start and pitched the first five innings, striking out nine and holding the Tigers to two hits and four walks. Waylen Land stepped in and pitched a scoreless sixth, and Riggs Westlund pitched the final three outs, allowing one hit but striking out the rest.
Hunter Niemi went a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate with two runs scored and a double, the only extra-bases hit for the Bearcats of the afternoon. Braden Jones had an RBI base knock and Jeron Martin scored a run on a 1 for 2 day.
The Tigers, after a tough, 19-0 loss to the Bearcats Monday, came back and gave W.F. West a fight Tuesday, with a trio of pitchers and a steadier defense keeping the Bearcats more in check.
Brady Sprague got the start and pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing three runs with one earned on four hits and two walks with a strikeout. Marcus Miller pitched another 2 2/3, allowing a run with three strikeouts, and Moshie Eport pitched the final two outs, allowing a run on two hits and a walk.
Eport, Sprague, Miller, and Gabe Seymour all had hits against the Bearcats, but the Tigers couldn’t put any runs across.
In three wins over their crosstown foes this year, the Bearcats have outscored the Tigers, 39-1.
The Bearcats will play one more contest in the regular season against River Ridge on Thursday before the 2A District 4 tournament, while the Tigers take on Interlake at Fort Borst Park in a doubleheader in their non-league finale.
