LACEY — When the River Ridge defense has two outs on the diamond, head coach Ben Rood can often be heard yelling three words from the dugout, encouraging his team to secure the last out.
“Let’s go hit!”
Unfortunately for the Hawks, it seemed as though North Thurston answered Rood’s call more than River Ridge Wednesday afternoon.
Nine of North Thurston’s 16 runs were scored with two outs as the Rams rocked the Hawks 16-6 in six innings, clinching a series sweep and a fifth straight victory for North Thurston against River Ridge. The Rams also defeated the Hawks 11-1 on Monday.
“It was good to see. We saw poise from some younger guys and some guys who haven’t had a ton of at bats with guys on base this year,” North Thurston head coach Joe Meggs said of his team’s two-out hitting. “We talk a lot about taking it one pitch at a time and staying in the moment. It’s good to see that they followed through with that process.”
The Rams didn’t need the two-out adrenaline to find offense early. Zach Albright singled on a 3-2 pitch to lead off the top of the first inning, and Ethan Shaefer rocketed a single to center field, driving in Albright. Kole French’s sacrifice fly was deep enough to center field to score Shaefer from third and give North Thurston an early 2-0 lead against River Ridge starter Kellen Lentz.
River Ridge nipped away at the lead without needing a hit in the bottom of the first. A walk, a hit batter and a sac fly sufficed, with Aaron Leu picking up the RBI on the sac fly.
After Shaefer ripped a double on the first pitch of the third inning for his second hit, French did the dirty work again, grounding out to bring his teammate across home plate. With two outs, the Rams earned three straight walks, the third sending Jack Bowser home for their fourth run of the day.
Robbie Tweed, the ninth hitter in the lineup, delivered a boost on a two-run single to cap off a four-run frame for North Thurston.
Rood encouraged his team to chip away at the deficit, and the Hawks did just that by scoring a run in the third and winning the fourth inning with three runs. Jalon Fulton crushed a double that nearly left the ballpark in center field for two runs, and his younger brother Jax Fulton converted on an RBI single to at bats later to cut the four-run deficit to just one. River Ridge left the tying run at second base, however, as David Perez picked off the runner to end the inning.
The exhilaration of a one-run ballgame was short-lived. In the top of the fifth, North Thurston knocked in five runs, kickstarted by two straight singles by the eighth and ninth hitters Bowser and Tweed. Albright added a third straight single to the rally, scoring Bowser. After Shaefer walked, French contributed his third sacrifice of the day to extend the lead to 8-5. Jordan Dircks came up clutch with a single that scored two runs thanks to an error by River Ridge. The Rams finished the inning with a bases-loaded walk, and suddenly, a one-run game turned into a six-run lead for North Thurston.
“We survived their big inning, and answering back was big. The guys didn’t quit. They fought back the whole game,” Meggs said. “I’m really proud of them for that.”
French’s job at the plate was not sexy, but it was more than effective. The senior shortstop did not record a hit in five plate appearances, yet he earned four RBIs off of four sacrifices, repeatedly putting the ball in play to score runs.
“He came up with guys on and was ready to hit. He didn’t try to do too much and did a good job of putting the ball in play,” Meggs said of French. “That was a good lesson for our younger guys. You might not have three hits, but you can still contribute and drive in runs.”
French picked up his fourth RBI in the top of the sixth on a sac fly, and Perez joined the sac fly party with one of his own as the lead grew to 13-5. The bottom of the lineup continued to punish the Hawks, as Wyatt Albertson, Bowser and Tweed all recorded RBI singles to send the Rams within three outs of a run-rule victory.
River Ridge plated one run in the sixth but couldn’t bring a runner from third home to extend the game.
“Every time we play those guys, it just seems like they hit the ball really well. You gotta tip your cap. I’ve got respect for the way they played today,” Rood said of North Thurston. “It was good to see that we got back in the game. But [North Thurston] got a lot of soft contact and just found holes. They’re tough outs.”
Bowser and Tweed especially were tough outs, each providing three hits and three RBIs. At the top of the lineup, Albright and Shaefer also delivered three hits and an RBI apiece. Perez picked four innings and struck out four batters, and Grady Wright held the Hawks without a hit over the final two innings.
In the midst of a four-game winning streak over three quality opponents, Meggs and his team aren’t satisfied. They know their best baseball is still ahead of them.
“We talked on Monday about not focusing so much on who we’re playing but controlling what we can control, playing as hard as we can and playing up to our standard,” Meggs said. “At times, we’ve pitched better this year. But I really like the way we’re swinging the bats, and our defense has played really well the last week and a half.”
North Thurston (8-5, 6-4 Puget Sound League) will welcome Enumclaw for a non-league contest Friday, while River Ridge (8-6, 5-6 Puget Sound League) will face Timberline (5-5, 5-4 Puget Sound League) in a two-game series that will decide who sits in third place in the Nisqually Division.
