The Lynnwood baseball team put its best effort of the 2003 season against one of the top clubs in the league.
Victory still eluded the Royals but first-year coach Evan Metz nevertheless was encouraged by his team’s effort in a 4-0 loss to first-place Kamiak in the first game of a two-game series April 11 at Lynnwood High School.
“It was a good game,” said Metz. “It was definitely our best pitching effort of the year.”
In his first start of the season, freshman Mike Sloan scattered seven hits in the complete-game loss. He struck out five and issued only two walks. Sloan allowed only one run through six innings before the Knights tagged him for three additional runs in the top of the seventh.
“He was getting ahead of guys and had great location,” Metz said.
Metz decided to start Sloan in part because Lynnwood has struggled with its pitching this season.
“We had to make a change,” Metz said.
The Royals have had problems with all facets of their game this season but almost put a complete effort against Kamiak.
Lynnwood’s difficult start is a direct result of the team’s lack of consistency in defense, pitching and hitting.
“We haven’t done any of the three at times,” Metz said. “Come Friday, we accomplished two of the three. We were not able to get the ball in play. We didn’t make the adjustments we needed to make. We really competed in two aspects of the three … it just shows you what we can do.
“At times we can hit it. We just couldn’t get the bats going. We got everything else going.”
Sloan’s strong effort came at an ideal time since the Royals recently found out that Kevin Nakata, one of the team’s top pitchers, is out for the season with bursitis in his throwing shoulder.
“We’re a young team and still learning,” Metz said. “We’ve got a long ways to go. At times we show a lot of life.”
The Lynnwood offense has sputtered this season, having already been shut out four times. The Royals have been getting runners on.
“We’d get a few guys on and leave them on,” Metz said. “Clutch hits is what we’re lacking offensively.”
As far as pitching, the Lynnwood staff has had a problem with the big inning, sometimes giving up five or six runs at a clip.
“If we can stay away from the big inning, our guys can compete very well,” Metz said.
That’s what the Royals (2-6 in the league, 2-8 overall) did in the second game of the series when Lynnwood rallied from a 5-0 deficit to post a 10-8 victory over the Knights in an April 15 game.
Ian O’Crotty drove in three runs in the Royals’ eight-run sixth inning.
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