Chalking up two more heart-stopping wins this week, the Falcon baseball team may have qualified itself as one of the best South Whidbey teams in more than a decade.
A 7-5 win against Blaine on Tuesday, then a 5-4 squeaker against Meridian Thursday, gave the Falcons an 8-3 record and sole possession of second place in the North Cascades Conference. With just five games remaining in the season, the Falcons could well set themselves up as a championship contender in the playoffs.
Proving that they are no fluke, the Falcons played perfect baseball during the two-game home stretch, even when play wasn’t going their way. In Thursday’s game, the Falcons fell behind in the first when the Trojans from Meridian tagged starting pitcher Joel Friesen for back-to-back home runs and three runs total.
The Falcons got one back in the bottom of the inning when junior shortstop Dane Guetlin scored on a Michael Lodell single.
Friesen made it through the second inning without incident, but got yanked when he loaded the bases with just one out in the top of the third. He yielded to unbeaten reliever Logan Hanna, who allowed just one run before retiring the side.
Junior Andrew Hosmer then chipped away at the Trojans in the bottom of the third by turning a deep single to center into a triple, thanks to a fielding error and his own speed on the basepaths. After beating the tag at third with a dusty slide, he came home on a pass ball on the next batter to bring the score to 4-2.
The Falcons put the game away in the bottom of the sixth. Dane Guetlin singled on to lead off, stole second, and was doubled home by Lodell. With the tying run on base, the Falcons got aggressive, using a suicide bunt to knock the Trojan defense back on its heals. The fielding the ball, the Trojans’ pitcher tried to throw Lodell at second, but a fielding error allowed him to steal home to tie the game.
Then, with two outs against them, the Falcons put up the winning run when junior Dustin Sidhu banged a single to center field to score Logan Hanna from first.
Hanna then closed the game out in the seventh to take his record to 4-0.
Tuesday’s game came down to the ninth inning. After putting up a total of seven runs in the third inning, the two teams were knotted after seven when the Borderites erased a slim, one-run Falcon lead in the top of the inning
Though it would be another two innings before that tie was broken, the Falcons had momentum behind them. Knocking out six doubles on the day, they had the bats to do the job.
In the ninth, everything seemed to go right for the Falcons. When freshman Joey Smith struck out, he was still able to dash to first on a dropped third strike. He then moved to third on an Andrew Hosmer sacrifice, and was singled home classmate Danny Parra. Dane Guetlin ended the game by singling, stealing to third, then coming home on a Blaine fielding error.
Saving the game and picking up the win on the mound was Logan Hanna, who took the ball from middle reliever Joel Friesen to shut the Borderites down.
