The spring sports season kicked off on Tuesday with a light schedule of prep baseball games on the Twin Harbors.
BASEBALL
Ocosta 9, Ilwaco 8
Ocosta rallied for four runs in its last at-bat to earn a 9-8 season-opening victory over Ilwaco on Tuesday in Westport.
The Wildcats (1-0) carried a 4-0 lead into the top of the sixth inning on the back of a stellar pitching performance from starter Colby Scheuber, who allowed one hit and a walk in 4 2/3 innings. Scheuber struck out 14 Fishermen batters and threw 50 strikes out of his 75 pitches.
“He was money,” Ocosta head coach Mike Allton said of Scheuber. “He was right on and what I expected. He was dominant.”
Ocosta broke a scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the third on a run-scoring fielder’s choice off the bat of catcher Frederick Bishop, scoring second baseman Kjirstin Hopfer, who was aboard with a leadoff walk.
The Wildcats added to their lead with three runs the following inning. Andrew Martin scored on one of seven Ilwaco errors in the game to make it a 2-0 ballgame, followed by a walk and back-to-back RBI singles from Bishop and Josh Figueroa.
But leading 4-0 in the top of the sixth, the wheels feel off for the Wildcats. After back-to-back Ilwaco singles chased home Ilwaco’s first run of the game, Ocosta’s lone error of the contest led to six unearned runs in the frame and a 7-4 Ilwaco lead.
Ocosta scratched across a run in the bottom half of the inning on consecutive two-out singles and an error that scored Bishop.
Ilwaco got a run back in the top of the seventh, putting the Wildcats down 8-5 heading into Ocosta’s last at-bat.
With one on and one out in the bottom of the seventh, Andrew Martin led off with a single, followed by Hopfer reaching safely on a fielder’s choice. With two on and no outs, center fielder Harley Figueroa singled to score Martin, cutting Ilwaco’s lead to 8-6.
An error on the Ilwaco left fielder off a line drive by Scheuber led to two runs, as both Hopfer and Figueroa scored, and tied the game at 8-8.
With first baseman Jackson Reid at the plate, Scheuber stole third and eventually came home with the winning run on Reid’s sacrifice fly to center field, giving Ocosta the 9-8 victory.
“It was quite the ending and quite the game,” Ocosta head coach Mike Allton said. “You know baseball. It’s just bizarre.”
Martin (2-for-5, 2 runs), Bishop (2-for-44, a run and two RBI) and Josh Figueroa (2-for-2, a run, two walks) each had multi-hit games for an Ocosta team that had eight hits in the ballgame.
Josh Figueroa earned the victory, pitching a scoreless top of the seventh as Ocosta used four pitchers in the game.
Playing for the first time in two seasons due to government lockdowns, Allton said getting back out to the diamond helped to bring back a feeling of familiarity.
“It just seemed like forever ago. When we finally got back out there playing, it seemed a little surreal, but it all started to come back,” he said. “The normalcy started to kind of come back there.”
The Wildcats are scheduled to face Raymond-South Bend at 4 p.m. on Friday at South Bend High School.
Other scores
Northwest Christian 14, North Beach 6
