TENINO — Stellar pitching and small ball was the name of the game in Tenino on Friday, where the Beavers topped R.A. Long 4-1 to push their winning streak to nine games to open the season.
The Lumberjacks got on the board first in the top of the third, but the Beavers quickly tied the game in the bottom half. Tenino had runners on the corners, and when the runner on first took off for second, Mason Metcalf booked it home to score the tying run.
After Austin Gonia drew a leadoff walk to start the fourth, Michael Vassar and Jack Burkhardt laid down what were supposed to be sacrifice bunts, but they both reached on a pair of R.A. Long errors.
A pair of wild pitches and a sacrifice fly brought in three runs to give Tenino a lead it would not relinquish.
“That’s our bread and butter, putting pressure on them,” Tenino coach Ryan Schlesser said. “We took a couple bags, bunted a couple guys over, it’s just making them play baseball. We wanna put pressure on teams, and that’s what we did.”
After Gonia allowed just the one unearned run and struck out five across the first four innings, Burkhardt allowed just two hits and struck out four to seal it.
“They threw really well,” Schlesser said. “They both just filled it up early and often. They’re just throwing strikes all day, and that’s what we ask them to do. And our defense played behind them, which was nice to see.”
Kellan Johnson collected Tenino’s lone hit, a single in the third, while Jude Leitch tallied the team’s only run batted in.
It’s another solid non-league win for the Beavers, who have now beaten Yelm, Overlake-Bear Creek, Charles Wright Academy, and Kiona Benton (twice) in their non-league slate.
If they can beat Kalama on the road on Saturday, they’ll improve to 10-0, which will match their start from last season.
“I like where we’re at,” Schlesser said. “I think we’re a pretty tough team right now. We wanted to test ourselves and get ready for the Monte’s and the Elma’s and push ourselves towards that league so we can take care of business.”
After the trip south, Tenino will get their first test against Montesano on Tuesday at home before heading towards the coast for a doubleheader against the Bulldogs on Friday.
