Baseball is back at Funko Field, and the Trojans are off to a hot start.
The team won both ends of a doubleheader at Yakima Valley on Saturday, taking game one 6-2 and game two 7-3. Everett scored first in both games and never let either lead slip for so much as a half-inning.
It was a different story when the Trojans arrived home on Sunday to round out the series against Yakima Valley.
Everett jumped out to a 1-0 third inning lead thanks to an RBI double from Micah Coleman.
“I wanted to get back to my usual approach, just to attack, get in attack mode every pitch, every at-bat,” Coleman said.
The freshman made the turn around second, hunting a would-be triple, but was thrown out at third for the first out of the inning.
There would be a whopping three lead changes to follow, beginning with the Yaks capitalizing on a bases-loaded no outs situation against Trojans starter Cooper McBride. The freshman lefty struck out six over the first three innings, but allowed the first three men to reach in the fourth, followed by a two-run single and a sacrifice fly to put Yakima Valley on top 3-1.
Both teams stayed quiet until the bottom of the seventh, when with runners on first and third, sophomore shortstop Jonah Shull singled to drive in a run. Two batters later, a bases loaded walk tied the game, but with two outs the Trojans couldn’t push any more runs across.
Back-to-back Everett errors opened the door for the Yaks in the eighth, and after a sacrifice bunt, Yakima Valley’s Jay O’Neill singled to again give his team the lead.
Everett wasted no time capitalizing on miscues in their end of the eighth, with freshman catcher Nate Davis reaching on an error to begin the frame and later scoring on a wild pitch. With runners on second and third, two outs and a 3-2 count, Schull stepped up again, dumping a single into shallow right field, scoring two and putting Everett back on top for good.
Shull said he was looking for a fastball high and in when he delivered the game winning hit.
“I didn’t wanna get blown up, but I was able to adjust to the slider, luckily,” Shull said.
Redshirt sophomore righty Kyle Heaton came on for the ninth and struck out two on his way to converting the save opportunity and closing the book on a gritty win.
“You don’t know what you have until you start playing games,” said Head Coach Keith Hessler. “You have an idea, but watching them come back, not quit in that first game… it shows the character of the group.”
Game two on Sunday exemplified the duality of baseball. As exciting as game one was, game two was mundane, with Everett collecting 15 hits and cruising to a 12-0 win.
The game wasn’t without grit however, as just 12 hours before first pitch, Trojans starter Ethan Hubbell was battling food poisoning. It’s safe to say the sophomore won the battle, pitching seven scoreless innings and securing the four game sweep for the Trojans.
“I showed up for the team, they needed me today so I showed out and did what I could,” Hubbell said.
Hubbell said he used his sinker and slider to both sides of the plate to keep the Yaks batters off balance.
“I’d throw an occasional changeup in there and they wouldn’t really know what to do with it,” said the right-hander.
The offensive performer of the game was freshman center fielder Colin Beazizo, who rocketed a leadoff double, scored the game’s first run and never looked back, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a walk and two RBIs.
Overall, the Trojans lineup showed no qualms about taking ball four and a free trip to first when it came their way, and the bats got louder as the day went on.
“The approach (the team) showed this weekend jumpstarts our offense,” Hessler said. “We preach approach all year, we preach our game plan, but to see it in action against another team is good. Not giving away at-bats, making every out of the game hard, allowed us to stay in games, take leads and win games.”
Everett will look to stay hot next weekend at home against Spokane.
