EDMONDS
On the hottest day so far this year, the pitching staffs of Edmonds-Woodway and Lynnwood did their part to cool down the opposition’s hitters.
Warrior starter Kramer Scott, with a little help from reliever Kramer McDonald, outdueled Royals starter Chris Gordon and the Lynnwood bullpen in a 2-1 victory April 6 at Edmonds-Woodway High School.
Both teams’ hitters consistently made contact throughout the game with Scott recording the only two strikeouts of the game in the second inning.
“Both teams actually swung the bat pretty good,” said Edmonds-Woodway head coach Matt Barker. “Everyone was hitting the ball at people. They hit a ton of balls hard at our outfielders and we hit quite a few at their outfielders.”
Scott, who allowed only three hits and no runs in six innings, was throwing strikes from start to finish.
“He gets a lot of contact, which is what he did today,” Barker said. “We played pretty good defense, which we usually do.”
Scott located his fastball well and also used his change-up and breaking ball effectively, Barker said.
“They (Royals) just kind of hit them right at my outfielders,” Scott said. “My rightfielder (Tyler Weber) was clutch for me today.”
In his first start of the season, Gordon used the plate effectively.
“He was just tough to hit,” Scott said of his counterpart on the mound. “He was all around the zone. He just had his stuff going for him. He was locating (the ball).”
Edmonds-Woodway took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth when shortstop Kyle Long scored on a ground out by centerfielder Drew Lockhart.
Gordon only allowed two hits in five innings of work. He was replaced by sophomore Jason Lotzer in the sixth.
Lotzer retired the first batter and then saw Long reach first on an error. Long advanced to second on a passed ball. Sophomore Kyle Hoerner then replaced Lotzer on the mound. Scott greeted the reliever with a single to right to score Long and extend the Warriors’ lead to 2-0.
The Royals finally got their offense rolling in the top of the seventh.
Sophomore Ryan Desimone was hit by a pitch from reliever McDonald. Pinch runner Vince McPherronn moved to second on a passed ball and then advanced to third on a ground out. Sophomore Alex Himes then drew a walk.
Senior Ty Smith laid down a perfect bunt along the third base line to score McPherronn with Smith ending up safe at first.
“The third baseman was playing back,” Smith said. “I just put it down the line.”
Smith then was forced out at second when John Mann hit a grounder back to McDonald, who got sophomore Karl Rodriguez to ground out to second to end the game.
“We battled back,” Lynnwood coach Reggie Corns said. “We made too many mistakes early in the game that came back to haunt us. … We had a chance to win with runners at the corners and my third hitter up.”
Edmonds-Woodway also had some problems. Barker wasn’t pleased by three baserunning errors that helped to cut short potential scoring opportunities. Edmonds-Woodway had a runner picked off at second, had another doubled off on a line drive and then had a third thrown out easily trying to turn a single into a double.
“We didn’t run the bases very well,” Barker said. “Any time that happens that basically costs us runs.”
The Warriors also didn’t show the patience at the plate they generally have been showing in previous games. The biggest change that Barker, who is in his first season as head coach, is what he calls plate discipline.
Barker wants his hitters to work the pitcher and wait for the right pitch. The goal for the players is to get on base any way they can.
“They’ve really bought into that and we’ve done a pretty good job,” Barker said.
The plate discipline, however, broke down against Lynnwood. Too many balls were put into play early in the count, Barker said.
“We had a lot of balls put in play 1-0, 2-0 and 0-1 and that’s not the way we try to do it.”
It has taken some time for the players to adapt to this new way of thinking, Scott said.
“I think it’s made us better hitters,” he said. “When we see a pitch, everyone is putting a good swing on it. I think it’s a good philosophy and it’s helping us right now. We’ve just got to stick with it.”
While the Warriors’ offense continues to progress, the pitching has been solid from the start of the season.
“We’ve got three starters that are pretty solid,” Barker said. “They throw a lot of strikes. … We’ve got three solid relievers. Our pitching has kept us in every game.”
Edmonds-Woodway’s depth also has been a strong point, Scott said.
“If one person has a bad day, everyone else is going to pick them up,” Scott said. “I think we’ve got lot of good chemistry going.”
Corns has no complaints about his sophomore-dominated squad. The Royals already have equaled last year’s two-win total.
“I feel like we should have won a couple more games than we have,” Corns said. “I’ve made some mistakes. The kids have made some mistakes out in the field. It’s just little things. It’s a game of mistakes. We just need to make fewer mistakes.”
Earlier in the week Lynnwood rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Shorewood 4-3. Himes struck out eight in a complete-game performance. Gordon’s bases-loaded single scored Smith with the game-winning run.
Corns noted that Smith always seems to come up big in key situations. His double kept Lynnwood’s rally against Shorewood going and put the Royals in a position to win the game.
“He executed that bunt here that scores the run,” Corns said. “He gets us going. … he’s making great plays in the outfield to pick us up.”
Lynnwood has made the most progress on the defensive end with the infield, in particular, now in synch.
“They’re playing together,” Corns said. “They kind of read each other’s minds and that’s helped us.”
As for the future, Corns expects the young Royals to continue to improve not only this season but in the coming years.
“They’re all a bunch of young sophomores,” he said. “There’s nothing but good things in the future.”
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