Mount Vernon – The Archbishop Murphy baseball team is headed back to the state playoffs, thanks to a determined pitcher and an offense that made the most of its opportunities.
The Wildcats defeated Lakewood 7-5 in a winner-to-state 2A District 1 playoff game Saturday at Sherman Anderson Field.
With the victory, Archbishop Murphy secured District 1’s third and final state playoff berth, a repeat of last season when the Wildcats defeated Meridian 9-7 in 13 innings to advance to the state tourney.
Archbishop Murphy senior Ben Shively gave up just four hits and three runs in six innings pitched to earn the win in a game he insisted on starting.
“We were thinking about not throwing him today,” Wildcats head coach Ed Gay said after the game. “But Ben told me (Friday) … ‘Coach, I’m the guy,’ so we gave him the ball.”
Shively struck out just three batters and walked three, but he helped himself at the plate by batting 2-for-3 with two singles – the first of which put Murphy ahead 2-0 in the first inning – and two runs scored.
“If we’d have lost it would have been my last game,” Shively said. “I felt my arm was ready today and I just wanted to make it happen.”
To back up Shively’s performance on the mound, the Wildcats’ offense scored seven runs on just three hits by being aggressive on the basepaths and taking full advantage of opportunities the Cougars gave them.
Outside of Shively’s two-RBI single and an RBI single by Shiloh Keo, the Wildcats used stolen bases, walks, and two throwing errors to take a 6-1 lead in the second inning.
“We knew we were going to have to play some small ball,” Gay said. “There weren’t going to be a lot of hits – we were going to have to make things happen.”
Lakewood starter Ryan Martin was solid in the losing effort, giving up four earned runs while striking out 11 and walking one in six innings.
“He can throw,” Gay said of Martin. “I don’t think we’ve ever beat him. He’s a junior and I think he’s beat us every year.”
Archbishop Murphy’s Shiloh Keo was 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Nick Muller also scored twice, reaching base after being hit by a pitch and on a fielder’s choice, and Jake Lyons drove home Shively who had reached on his second single in the fifth on a sacrifice.
Archbishop Murphy opens state tournament play next Saturday in Yakima against the top seed from District 5/6.
The Cougars scored four runs in the final two innings to battle back into the game. Seniors Brandon Stauffer (2-for-4) and Dallas Smith (1-for-3) each singled and scored – Smith coming home on Jordan Stauffer’s sacrifice fly – in the sixth.
In the seventh, Josh Spears and Ryan Martin hit back-to-back singles off Wildcats’ closer Seafth Howe to start the inning. Brandon Spears doubled into the gap in left-center field to bring Lakewood to within three at 7-5.
But Howe settled down after that and struck out the next three batters to end the game and send the Wildcats on to the state tournament.
At Sherman Anderson Field
Lakewood0100022-573
A. Murphy330010X-733
Martin and Renouard. Shively, Howe (7) and McNaughton. WP-Shively. LP-Martin. S-Howe. 2B-J. Stauffer (L), B. Stauffer (L). Records-Lakewood 11-13 overall. Archbishop Murphy 14-10.
Scott Whitmore, Herald Writer
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