LYNNWOOD — The rebuilding Meadowdale baseball team displayed flashes of greatness during the first half of the regular season and experienced its share of growing pains.
Last week’s series with Jackson falls under the latter category.
Meadowdale let an eight-run lead evaporate in the April 14 opener, then was silenced by one of the league’s premier pitchers two days later in a game that was cut short due to the 10-run mercy rule.
The losses dropped the Mavericks a game behind Shorecrest in the race for the league’s No. 1 berth to the Northwest District 3A tournament heading into this week’s action.
“We’re about where I thought we’d be,” Meadowdale coach Ron Martin said.
Brandon McKerney’s four RBI helped Meadowdale jump to an 8-0 lead through four innings in the first game before Jackson roared back.
Travis Snider sparked the rally with a grand slam in the fifth inning and the sophomore first baseman connected on a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth to give the Timberwolves a 9-8 comeback win.
Sophomore John Wahl threw three scoreless innings of relief for the Wolfpack and was 3-for-4 from the plate with three RBI. Richie Tri chipped in three of Jackson’s 13 hits.
“The kids thought it was over and we kind of relaxed and (Jackson) came back and scored nine runs,” Martin said.
In the rematch, Jackson pitcher Cam Nobles held Meadowdale to just two hits and collected nine strikeouts to key a 13-2 victory.
The Mavericks scored their only runs in the bottom of the second when Jensen Gardner drew a bases loaded walk and Justin Lucero followed with a sacrifice fly, cutting the Wolfpack’s lead to 3-2.
Meadowdale catcher Ray Hagens doubled and advanced to third with one out in the fourth inning, but Nobles got out of the jam unscathed with back-to-back strikeouts.
Kiel Lillibridge capped Jackson’s eight-run sixth inning with a towering three-run home run to center field. Kawika Pai was 3-for-5 with two doubles for the Timberwolves, Snider added two doubles and three RBI and in his varsity debut Joey Lind sliced a two-run double to left in the top of the sixth.
“They had their best pitcher on the mound and we didn’t have a chance. We were over-matched,” Martin said.
“That’s OK. It’s all right to lose to somebody who’s better than you are. They were way better than us (Friday). I don’t think they were better than us (Wednesday). We gave the game to them.”
Despite last week’s collapse, Martin has been encouraged by the progress the Mavericks have made since the start of the season. Only three starters and a few role players returned from last year’s state playoff team.
“We’ve done a better job in virtually every aspect of the game than we were at the beginning of the season,” Martin said. “We’re hitting the ball better, most of the time we field the ball better and the pitching has improved.”
The Mavericks encountered an unexpected setback recently, as two players were suspended from the team for the remainder of the season and their leading hitter was sidelined with a shoulder injury.
“It’s a challenge for the kids as well as the coaches to figure out a way to make it work,” Martin said.
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