The Columbia River baseball team picked up a big win, despite starting the day tied at zero while trailing by a run.
Huh?
Dakota Mason pitched a five-inning shutout in his first start of the season, and the Chieftains took advantage of some uncharacteristic errors by the Kelso defense to post a 10-0 victory to move into a tie for first place with the Hilanders.
The win was particularly advantageous to the Chieftains because they trail Kelso by a run in a game that was suspended Tuesday in Kelso.
After Wednesday’s result, Columbia River and Kelso are tied atop the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League standings.
“It motivated us because we were down in that other game,” Mason said. “We really just thought we needed to step it up.”
He gave up five hits and struck out seven.
Josh Ebert and and Taylor Easterly each had two-run singles for the Chieftains. Both ended up driving in three runs apiece.
The Chieftains only needed five hits to cause the damage as Kelso pitchers walked nine, hit two batters, and the Kelso defense committed six errors.
Alex McGarry took advantage of the first error . A wild pitch got him to second base and an error on the play sent him all the way home in the first inning.
That set the tone for the rest of the game. Eight consecutive Chieftains reached base with two outs in the second inning — on just two hits — as River made it 6-0. The Chieftains made it a 10-run game with four runs on two hits in the fourth inning.
