LACEY — It’s all green lights for the North Thurston Rams.
A remarkable week like last week, accentuated by wins over Peninsula and Bainbridge, will be hard to top. But the Rams have never been more confident after beating two powerhouse teams, and they now believe every week can be better than the previous.
North Thurston improved its impressive win streak to three after dismantling River Ridge 11-1 in six innings on a windy Monday afternoon. The contest was close for the majority of the day until the Rams put a bow on the victory with a six-run sixth inning.
Senior pitcher Ethan Shaefer threw a gem for the Rams, striking out five Hawks and giving up just one unearned run off three hits and one walk across five innings. The only thing that slowed him down was the wind blowing his loosely fitted hat to the side on nearly every pitch, but his two-seam fastball, slider, curveball and splitter still cut through the gusts and past the Hawks bats.
“I was just giving my team a chance to make some plays on the defensive end,” Shaefer said. “I’m pitching at a good level, but I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our defense. As long as I can give us a chance, we can win a lot of ball games.”
Shaefer gave his defense plenty of chances in the first inning, as the Rams infield took care of all three outs after a leadoff walk. David Perez returned the favor in the bottom half of the frame with a two-out RBI double to score Kole French from second base.
River Ridge had a chance to run Shaefer off the hill early, putting two runners on with one out thanks to singles by Kellen Lentz and Ryder Denham. But Shaefer tiptoed around the two runners, who advanced into scoring position after a balk by the pitcher, and he escaped the inning without a scratch.
Desmond Thomas put on a show in the second inning, smacking a single to left field and chugging his way all the way home after sloppy defense by River Ridge, much to the gratification of the Rams dugout. His highlight-reel hit-and-run gave North Thurston a 3-0 advantage.
“It was a big hit. He wasn’t satisfied with just being on first, and he kept running hard,” North Thurston head coach Joe Meggs said of Thomas’ effort. “Credit to him for being a heads-up baserunner.”
River Ridge starting pitcher Aaron Leu kept the Rams from scoring more in the second, stranding a pair of runners in scoring position. He helped the Hawks inch closer with an RBI single in the third.
North Thurston created another two-out rally in the fourth. Zach Albright doubled, and Shaefer’s RBI single brought him home and put the Rams ahead 4-1. In his final inning of work on the mound, Shaefer left another pair of Hawks stranded in scoring position to end the fifth.
“Every time he’s out there, he gives us a chance to win, and our guys are confident in him,” Meggs said of Shaefer. “We know that even if they get a couple runners on, he can work himself out of jams. We knew that if we could get him four or five runs, we’d have a good chance to win the game.”
A walk and then three straight singles, capped off by an RBI knock from Jack Bowser, pushed the Rams’ lead to 5-1 in the fifth before North Thurston blew the game open in the sixth. Seven Rams appeared at the plate, and all seven Rams reached base, six of which scored to finish the game. Grady Wright and Wyatt Albertson each raked in a pair of runs in the frame, the latter doing the honors of enacting the run rule.
River Ridge never found the breakthrough hit it needed, going 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Hawks pitchers also walked seven batters, and the defense struggled with four errors.
“We walked a few too many guys and just threw the ball around. We had a lot of guys on base early in the game, but we never really got the big hit,” River Ridge head coach Ben Rood said. “We’re getting used to playing in close games. We’ve done really well at that so far, but that was a little step back today.”
North Thurston (7-5, 5-4 Puget Sound League) is flying high and playing its best baseball of the season. Defensive efficiency has been the catalyst for all three of the Rams’ impressive wins during this stretch, but North Thurston has shown that it can win with its pitching, its offense, its baserunning, or any combination of those.
But now, the Rams can throw winning with energy and confidence into that mixture.
“We go into every game thinking we’re going to win by 10,” Shaefer said. “Those two wins really helped us gel together as a team.”
North Thurston and River Ridge (8-5, 5-5 Puget Sound League) will meet again at River Ridge High School Wednesday afternoon. The Rams have now won four straight in the rivalry dating back to April 2, 2024.
