EVERETT — Senior Shiloh Keo played the instigator and his Archbishop Murphy teammates followed his lead as the Wildcats beat Sultan 10-0 in six innings.
Keo led off the April 10 game by socking a fastball from Sultan starter Jazz McCrorey to deep left-center field for a ground-rule double. He stole third and then scampered home for the game’s first run when the throw went into left field.
In the third inning, Keo smacked another fastball over the left field fence to give Archbishop Murphy a 2-0 lead.
“I love fastballs that go right down the pipe,” Keo said. “I was fortunate to get it over the fence.”
Tony Ackerman added a single in the third to drive in Nick Muller for the Wildcats’ third run.
The third time Keo stepped to the plate, in the fourth, McCrorey threw nothing but curveballs and offspeed pitches. Still, Keo managed to scratch out an infield single. He eventually scored on an error as the Wildcats tacked on five runs in the inning to go up 8-0.
The Wildcats scored twice in the bottom of the sixth when Jake Lyons was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Alex Ash singled to put the 10-run mercy rule into effect.
Keo, who played second base, finished the day 3-for-4 with three runs, an RBI and was a triple short of the cycle. Muller, the Wildcats’ center fielder, went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored while Ackerman, the right fielder, went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Archbishop Murphy starter John-Paul Blair gave up only two hits in five innings of work to pick up the win. He walked two and struck out four, despite not having his best control, he said.
Joey Clancy relieved Blair in the sixth and worked out of a bases-loaded jam to preserve the shutout.
It was important for the Wildcats to take an early lead and keep it, something they failed to do in two previous losses to South Whidbey, where they frittered away leads of 3-0 and 4-0.
“We want to jump to an early lead but we need to keep that lead,” Keo said.
The Wildcats, who didn’t commit an error, capitalized on six Sultan errors. Five Archbishop Murphy runs were unearned.
Archbishop Murphy improved to 4-3 in the Cascade Conference and 5-7 overall with the win in the first of the three with Sultan (1-6 conference, 3-7 overall). The series wraps up today, Friday, April 14 at 4 p.m. at Archbishop Murphy.
The win put the Wildcats back on track but some minor details still need to be ironed out.
“We still have some things to work on offensively and defensively,” Blair said. “I think we’re coming together.”
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