SHORELINE — Scoring early runs to back the effort of ace Jacob Bogacz is usually a winning formula for the Jackson baseball team. It proved to be again Thursday in the Timberwolves’ 4A District 1 tournament loser-out game against Mount Vernon.
Ben Steck and Carter Booth hit home runs to lead Jackson’s 14-hit attack during the Timberwolves’ 9-5 win at Meridian Park. Jackson will play either Glacier Pea or Lake Stevens on Saturday for a berth to the 4A state tournament.
“We had a lot of energy,” Steck said. “We’ve been swinging the bats well the entire year, and we came out hot today.”
The Timberwolves took a 4-1 lead after the third inning, then broke the game open with three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth.
Booth went 3-for-3 with a triple.
“We were swinging the bats aggressively,” Booth said. “We faced (Mount Vernon starting pitcher Ryan Morrill) earlier in the season and he shut us down, but we knew what his stuff was like. We jumped on him early and opened the floodgates.”
Bogacz pitched into the sixth inning, giving up two runs on three hits.
“The big thing is (we get to) keep playing — survive and advance,” said Jackson coach Kirk Nicholson. “This was a good game for us. We hit the ball hard, and Jacob threw well.”
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