Strong pitching, offense lead Sehome baseball over Mount Baker

Dylan Harper was strong on the mound for the Sehome baseball team, and his offense gave him six runs in the second inning to work with, as the Mariners opened Northwest Conference play with a 10-1 win over Mount Baker Friday at Joe Martin Field.

Harper struck out five in five innings of work.

“He pitched one of the best games he’s pitched this year,” Sehome coach Monte Walton said.

Of course it doesn’t hurt to have a six-run lead to work with early in the game.

“It’s always nice to get one of those big innings,” Walton said. “You look at a baseball game, and it’s usually big innings like that that end up being the winning runs. I thought in that second inning, our kids were really patient, and we got some clutch hitting in that inning.”

Leading the way were Lukas Delisle (2 for 3, RBI), Wyatt Watson (1 for 1, RBI) and Collin Quinn (1 for 3, RBI, two runs scored). Zandy Zender went 1 for 2 with two walks for the Mountaineers, while Greg Day went 1 for 3 and scored the Mountaineers’ run.

Lynden Christian 8, Bellingham 5: Payton Robertson shut out the Red Raiders for five innings, and Tyson Cline and the offense took care of the rest as the Lyncs equaled their win total from last year with a NWC victory. Robertson struck out five in seven innings of work, while Cline went 3 for 3 with two runs scored, four RBI and a triple. Kyle Dether led the Bellingham offense, going 2 for 3 with a run scored, an RBI and a double.

Nooksack Valley 4, Ferndale 3: Strong pitching by Kyle Veldman helped the Pioneers take a lead, but it was a relief appearance by freshman Easton Zylstra that allowed them to hold on for a NWC win over the Golden Eagles. Zylstra ended up picking up the save. Casey Bauman led the Nooksack offense with a pair of hits, while Matt James had two hits for Ferndale. Though Nooksack was the home team, the game was played at Ferndale because the backstop on the Pioneers’ home field came down during a snow and ice storm in January. Coach Scott Gelwicks said he hoped the backstop would be back up by the end of next week.

Blaine 5, Squalicum 1: A key error allowed the Borderites to score four runs in the top of the fourth inning of what was a tied game, and that proved to be the difference in an NWC game that was called after six innings because of rain at Joe Martin Field. Brandon Watts was strong on the mound for Blaine, while Chase Abshere, Jalen Kortlever and Kai Nagle each had two hits. Reid Mazzocano (1-2), Owen McCord (1-2, R, SB) and James Knowlton (1-2, 2B) led the way for the Storm.

Lynden 3, Meridian 0: In a NWC pitchers’ duel, defense proved to be the difference, as the Lions scored three runs in the sixth to grab the victory. Lynden pitcher Trevin Hope struck out 11 and threw a two-hit shutout, but Simon Burkett was equal to the task through the first five innings for Meridian. James Marsh led the way offensively for Lynden, going 2 for 3, while Burkett and Tyler Linderman picked up the only hits for the Trojans.

This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 9:34 PM with the headline "Strong pitching, offense lead Sehome baseball over Mount Baker."