Let’s get this straight — Trapper Rawls likes hitting home runs.
And he likes it twice as much when he does it twice, as he did in the Falcon’s 10-0 win over Granite Falls on Friday.
“It seems I’ve come out of a hitting slump and I’m ready for more,” he said.
“It was a day when everything came together for our young South Whidbey baseball team as they defeated the Tigers 10-0 to win the best two out of three series,” said Falcon coach Dave Guetlin. “It was the big bats and great pitching.”
Luke Hodson notched his first win on the mound as a Falcon, going the distance for six innings and allowing only a single hit in the first inning.
Hodson was never in trouble on the mound as the Falcon defense had a busy day backing him up and playing errorless ball. Hodson threw an amazingly low 68 pitches and had the Tiger hitters off balance all game.
“I just felt I could throw harder than I have all year,” Hodson said.
“Aaron [Mannie] called all the right pitches and that helped a lot,” he said. “When the team hits, it gives me and the other pitchers a lot of confidence.”
Offensively, the story of the day was the long ball.
Rawls blasted two homers and picked up three RBIs. Rawls teed off with a solo shot in the second inning to give the Falcons a
1-0 lead.
Then in the third he stepped to the plate and laid off the first-pitch curve ball and blasted a two-run fast ball even further then the first one.
They were Rawls’ first homers as a Falcon.
“On the first one, I thought it just went into left field and was probably going to be caught,” Rawls recalled. “But as I got down to first, Coach [Frank] Parra grinned and said, ‘Nice hit.’ That’s when I knew.”
Rawls said there was no question on the second long ball. “There were two balls and no strikes but as soon as I made contact, I knew.”
Lucas Yale was not to be out-done as he, too, joined the long ball parade.
With the Falcons leading 5-0 in the fourth inning and Jon Adams on first base after a one-out single, Yale swung at an 0-2 pitch and blasted the ball over the right field fence for his first Falcon home run.
Hodson’s designated hitter Adam Babcock also joined in the hitting spree as he picked up his first double of the season and a single going 2-3 on the day.
Over the three game series, the Falcons picked up 30 hits and 20 runs.
“It makes life pretty nice with that kind of support for Falcon pitching,” Guetlin noted.
Mannie said he spent a lot of energy alternating inside and outside with the pitcher.
“Keep their batter guessing,” the catcher said. “We all felt more relaxed and focused today, especially after Trapper’s two awesome home runs.”
But Mannie has no complaints; he likes his position.
“There’s always lots of action for me behind the plate on just about every play,” he said.
Despite the win, life won’t get easy any time soon — series against the top two teams in the Cascade Conference began Monday.
“Next week will be Archbishop Murphy and the following week is Cedarcrest,” Guetlin said. “These guys will have their hands full as they attempt to play the role of spoiler in both series.”
Hodson has no worries about his teammates.
“We feel pretty confident at this point; everything to gain and nothing to lose.”
The Falcons are 2-0 in the league, 3-11 overall for the season.
At 4 p.m. today, the boys welcome ATM to Falcon Field.
Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@south
whidbeyrecord.com.
