It got dicey late on Tuesday for the W.F. West baseball team, but the Bearcats were able to escape a jam in the seventh to come away with a 4-2 victory over Timberline.
Deacon Meller got the Bearcats going with a bang, drilling the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first over the left-field fence for a solo shot.
“That was pretty cool,” W.F. West coach Jesse Elam said with a laugh.
W.F. West (2-0) doubled its advantage on an error in the bottom of the fourth, and they did so again in the sixth with an RBI triple from Miles Martin and a sacrifice fly from Alex Stafford.
The Blazers finally began to rally in the seventh. After the first batter of the inning was retired uneventfully, two straight hit batters and a walk loaded the bases. An RBI single brought the go-ahead run to the plate, and the next Timberline batter almost gave the Blazers the lead with a grand slam.
Instead, his shot to left ricocheted back into play off the yellow lining atop of the outfield fence. Inexplicably, just one Blazer scored on the play, leaving the bases loaded with just one out.
“We did a good job of getting the ball in,” Elam said.
Stafford struck out the next two batters to end the game and earn a save. Cole Ozretich earned the win on the mound, as he allowed just two hits and struck out eight over five shutout innings. Of his eight strikeouts, seven of them were looking.
“I thought Ozretich was outstanding,” Elam said. “He could have easily gone all seven … He mixes his pitches well, and he was throwing three of them for strikes. He can be tough on guys.”
Meller finished 2 for 3 at the plate with his homer and a double, Martin went 1 for 3 with his RBI triple, and Isaiah Nachatillo-Smetzler also ran out a triple as part of a 1 for 3 day at the plate.
The Bearcats will hit the road for the first time on Thursday, when they’ll take on Anacortes at Ridgefield. They’ll play again at Ridgefield on Friday against North Kitsap.
