SNOHOMISH — Panthers sophomore Luke Davis helped the Snohomish High School baseball team shut the door in a must-win scenario in a showdown against Meadowdale on Tuesday night.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound righty ace put on a display from the mound, allowing just one hit while ringing up 12 strikeouts as Snohomish held on for a 3-1 win over the Mavericks in a Class 3A District 1 opening round loser-out game.
Davis didn’t relinquish any earned runs, walking just one, and the Panthers batters battled it out at the plate for clutch scores in the third and fifth innings. With the win, Snohomish (9-13) will face Oak Harbor on Thursday at 4 p.m. in another loser-out tilt at Oak Harbor High School.
“We’ve talked this whole season about having a competitive nature with a fight and a grit with this team,” Panthers coach Nick Hammons said. “(And) our ace was out on the bump, throwing strikes and competing.”
Kealoha Kepoo-Sabate drew the start for Meadowdale (10-11) and gave the Panthers some issues, pitching six full innings while striking out eight with three walks, allowing six hits.
After the teams traded runs in the first two innings, Davis blanked the Mavericks from the third frame onward, while Landon Klein (2-for-3) plated Reve Leroux (2-for-3) to give Snohomish a 2-1 edge leading into the fourth. The Panthers built their cushion in the bottom of the fifth, as Jason Roth drove in Chase Clark to give Snohomish a two-run cushion.
“Some of our guys came in real clutch today. … Good clutch hits,” Davis said. “(Kealoha Kepoo-Sabate) is a good pitcher over there. He comes in throwing some heat. … We weren’t expecting too much today runs wise. We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game, so the fact that we were able to get those three and just close it out was good for us.”
The Mavericks gave Snohomish one more scare in the top of the sixth, securing runners on first and second with no outs off an error and a walk, but the Panthers snuffed out the potential late rally.
A win over Oak Harbor (14-5) on Thursday would book Snohomish a matchup with Edmonds-Woodway (16-4) in the quarterfinals.
“We’ll just have to muscle in,” Davis said of his team heading into a second district loser-out. “We’ll have to work hard at practice tomorrow and go to work on Thursday .. Just have to win, it’s one step at a time and keep grinding.”
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