By Tyler Sonderholzer
In their fourth game of the season, the varsity baseball team beat Marina High School by a score of 8-3, adding to the Barons’ league score of 4-0.
“We did a good job taking our walks and we got some timely hitting,” head coach Deric Yanagisawa said.
The first inning went well for the Barons as they prevented the Vikings from getting on base with two strikeouts by starting pitcher senior Sam Grack and a pop-out. The offense started out well with an early 2-0 lead thanks to sophomore Tim Grack’s two-run single up the middle with senior Ryan Sullivan and junior Ryder Brooks scoring.
The top of the second inning started out well with a stellar diving catch by junior Chris Ouellette and a ground out, but two walks and a single led to a good scoring chance for the Vikings. A balk by Sam Grack led to the first Viking run, who then responded by striking out the last batter to end the threat.
The Baron bats stayed hot in the bottom of the second inning thanks to Ouellette’s two-run triple which boosted their lead to 4-1.
Sam Grack’s strong end to the top of the second continued to the top of the third by striking out the side. Meanwhile, the bottom of the third was quiet for the Barons besides a throwing error on Tim Grack’s single, which led to him advancing to second where he was left on base.
The top of the fourth inning continued with Sam Grack’s strong pitching performance with another two strikeouts to start the inning then a groundout, which kept the Marina offense quiet yet again.
The Barons’ offense came alive in the bottom of the fourth inning when junior Keith Aguilar got a leadoff single and attempted to steal second, but junior Austin Kolby’s batter inference forced Aguilar to go back to first base and Kolby was called out on the play.
Aguilar successfully stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error on a drop third strike call for Ouellette. Sullivan hit a two-run single after Ouellette stole second to make it a 6-1 game. After Sullivan stole second and advanced to third on a balk, Brooks hit a sacrifice fly to make it a 7-1 game. Tim Grack flew out to end the productive inning for the Barons
The top of the fifth continued Sam Grack’s dominating pitching performance with two strikeouts to start the inning and a ground out kept the Marina bats at bay. The bottom of the fifth had another sacrifice fly from Kolby to make it an 8-1 game.
Tim Grack came into relief for Sam Grack in the top of the sixth inning and continued the stellar pitching performance by getting three flyouts. The Viking pitching finally cooled the Baron bats with two strikeouts and a fielder’s choice.
The Marina offense woke up in the top of the seventh with a leadoff single and a triple shortly following which made it an 8-2 Baron lead. Then a sacrifice fly led to the runner on third scoring, making the score 8-3 game, and Tim Grack struck out the last batter to win the game for the Barons.
“Sam Grack was really good on the mound. He was able to throw a second pitch first strike and he did a good job filling up the zone,” Yanagisawa said.
Sam Grack had a stellar pitching performance with five innings pitched, 10 strikeouts, two walks, two hits and a run. Meanwhile, Tim had two innings pitched, two hits, two runs and one strikeout
“We score a lot of runs which makes it easy to go out there and pitch well,” Sam Grack said. “I get a good defense every game so it’s easy, but I got in a role in the third inning and made seven or eight strikeouts. So when I get on a roll they’re not going to hit much, but yeah it starts with everybody and it was a good team win.”
The Barons will play on the road against the Westminster High School Lions at 3:15 p.m on Wednesday, March 31.
