A young, inexperienced Tenino squad got quite the season-opening test, dropping both games in a road doubleheader against powerhouse Montesano in 1A Evergreen Conference action Tuesday.
Tenino has just one kid who’s played high school ball while the Bulldogs are coming off a state quarterfinal appearance in 2019. It showed on Tuesday as the Beavers fell 11-1 in game one and 12-0 in game two.
“Montesano is a good team,” Tenino coach Ryan Schlesser said. “They’ll probably be No. 1 in our league.”
Drew Hart struck out one batter in three innings in game one before reaching his pitch count, then Brody Noonan came in for relief for the final two innings. Ethan Snider led the Beavers at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI while Noonan was 2-for-2, accounting for all four of the Beavers’ hits.
“Drew threw well for us,” Schlesser said. “He threw a lot of strikes... Brody did a commendable job.”
In game two, Kellan Knox threw two innings, Ethan Snider tossed 1 ⅓ and Carson Hart went ⅔ of an inning. Drew Hart and Christian Craigg each hit a double as the Beavers scattered five hits.
“A lot of little things we need to work on,” Schlesser said. “The score doesn’t indicate. We were in both those games. To start with the big boys is a tough task.”
The Beavers (0-1, 0-1 1A EvCo) host Montesano on Saturday.
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley picked up its first win of the early season with an 8-0 shutout over Northwest Christian (Lacey) at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey Tuesday
Junior Gavin Hampton struck out seven batters across four innings while Riley Pearson, in his first year playing baseball in four years, fanned six batters in three innings for the Titans.
“Gavin definitely showed tonight that he can throw strikes,” PWV coach Kelly Barnum said.
Garrett Keeton led the Titans with two hits and two RBIs, while Kaden Ritzman had one hit and two RBIs and Hunter Barnum drove in three runs.
“It’s COVID baseball,” Kelly Barnum said. “We just couldn’t hit. We’re just out here for fun. We had maybe three of four hard hit balls. We could not get a solid bat on ball.”
The Titans (1-1) were coming off an 11-7 loss to undefeated Adna on Saturday and Barnum said his defense is looking stellar through the first two games of the season.
“I’m shocked where we’re at defensively,” Barnum said. “To be where we’re at is... wow.”
PWV gets back in action when it hosts Ilwaco at 3 p.m. on Friday in Pe Ell.
