Jumping on Centralia from the get-go, the W.F. West baseball team smacked hits up and down the lineup in a 19-0, five-inning victory Monday afternoon at Ed Wheeler Field at Fort Borst Park.
The Bearcats scored 15 of their 19 total runs in the first and second innings, showing some discipline at the plate and drawing walks to get their first few runs across before the hit parade saw the rest of the runs come through.
Braden Jones had a standout day, throwing a complete five innings on the hill with six strikeouts while also going 3 for 5 with three runs scored, a double, and an RBI. Weston Potter went 1 for 2 with two runs scored, three RBIs, two walks drawn and a double, and Deacon Meller went 2 for 3 with two runs scored, five RBIs, a walk drawn and a double.
All the while, Centralia had a hard time stringing hits together.
The Tigers got back-to-back hits to start the game from the top of its lineup, with Moshie Eport and Brady Sprague stringing a pair of hits together, but managed just one hit across the rest of the contest. Sprague later hit a double, showcasing a strong day of work at the plate.
On the hill, Tucker Weaver battled some soreness in his arm but was pulled after recording just one out in the first inning, with Seth Aitken pitching the rest of the way.
Aitken was commended by his coach, Jake LeDuc, for a good outing despite some miscues behind him.
“He really did his job,” LeDuc said of Aitken. “He threw a lot of outs, and we didn’t help him out any. He kept them off balance. For the most part he threw strikes and he hasn’t thrown a lot, but he had guys out front and popping up, he got his curveball over which helped. We didn’t do anything defensively to help him or offensively. We did hit some balls hard, we had some outs we squared up well, we just hit them at people.”
The Bearcats and Tigers will match up again on Tuesday, this time in Chehalis, in another 2A Evergreen Conference contest as W.F. West looks for the season sweep.
