For the first time since the Centralia College baseball team began NWAC play, they finished off a four-game sweep of a league rival. They took care of Grays Harbor on Saturday by 4-2 and 5-2 verdicts at Bob Peters Field.
It’s the first winning streak of at least four games since March 20-26 when the Trailblazers won five straight. They used the offense to start the series with two wins and saw their pitching control the contests on Saturday.
Isaac Watson turned in a seven-inning performance with three walks and eight strikeouts to nab the win on the bump. He helped himself at the plate, breaking a 2-2 tie with an RBI single in the sixth and Jack Skelley added insurance with an RBI double in the seventh.
Tanner Stack gave CC (19-25, 7-13 NWAC) its first lead of Game 1 with a two-run double in the second. Stack and Watson both had two hits for the Blazers.
Game 2 featured four pitchers used by CC, its starter being Jackson Hale, who went five innings with four strikeouts. Its three bullpen arms combined to allow just one run and three hits over the final four frames.
The Blazers jumped out of the gates with a three-run first. It opened with a Maverick Harper run-scoring double then a Grays Harbor error and an RBI groundout capped the scoring. Harper, Nolan Christ and Mitchell Rowe all had two hits with Harper and Rowe also notching a stolen base.
CC will now turn its attention to a four-game series against Clark that begins at home on Thursday night.
Softball: Trailblazers lose three of four, drops back to .500
The Centralia College softball team skid has been extended after getting swept by Chemeketa 9-6 and 6-5 on Friday before settling for a split versus Umpqua, taking the opener 15-3 and losing the nightcap 9-8 on Saturday.
Since starting the month 5-3, the Blazers have lost six of their last eight games. In that stretch, their pitching has faltered, having allowed at least nine runs four times. They led 2-0 in the first game versus the Storm, but a five-spot in the bottom of the third and three more in the fourth broke the game open.
Centralia alum Makayla Chavez was a bright spot with four hits, including a home run, while Ava Hernandez and Macey Fluetsch each had three hits. Fleutsch also went deep and drove in two runs.
Game 2 versus Chemeketa was a back-and-forth thriller that featured ties after the first and sixth innings. CC (17-17, 9-15 NWAC) jumped in front in the seventh with a solo homer from Emma Hoffmeister, but the Storm’s Hadlee Nicholson walked it off with one out.
Four Trailblazers had multiple hits, led by Hoffmeister’s three. She also went the distance in the circle and allowed six hits and walked 12.
The one victory of the weekend was a quick one, beating Umpqua in the opener in seven innings. CC piled up 21 hits on the day, with Chavez and Sara Haury leading the way with four each. It put up nine in the top of the seventh that saw Sheridan Hammons drive in three, Chavez and Fluetsch each having two-run hits.
Hammons, Fluetsch, Chavez and Ava Hernandez all had multiple RBIs. Hernandez tossed a complete game in the circle with four strikeouts.
The nightcap versus the Riverhawks experienced more heartbreak, this time in extra innings. CC led 8-3 on the backs of five runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth. Umpqua responded with a five-spot in the seventh and Gracie Mello hit the walk-off double in the ninth.
Chavez continued her stellar weekend with another home run and four RBIs while Hammons added three hits for the Blazers. They return home to Bob Peters Field on Friday to take on Clark in a doubleheader.
