BLAINE – Win, and you’re in. Lose, and you just played your final baseball game of the season. Nerves ran a little high early on in the contest, but senior picther Colby Knutzen was calm as could be, and his dominance was clear from the very beginning as the Borderites beat Mountlake Terrace 3-0 on Tuesday.
After walking the first batter, Knutzen quickly picked him off at first base. Two of the next three batters were retired. Blaine would struggle in the batter box early on as well, but scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the third inning. Senior second baseman Ryan Turnberg led off the inning with a single, and sophomore Kyle Turnberg bunted him over to second base. Ryan Turnberg than advanced to third base on a wild pitch, and would eventually score on senior Nick Gunderson’s sacrifice fly to right field.
Ryan Turnberg walked on a full count in the bottom of the fourth inning with the bases loaded, which scored senior third baseman Hayden Dohner to make the score 2-0. Senior catcher Chase Abshere scored in the bottom of the fifth on an error, and that wrapped up the scoring for the orange and black.
Junior first baseman Tobin Akre went 2-for-2 with a walk, and Abshere continued his hot hitting with a double. Senior short stop Ben Wallen and junior left fielder Griffin King each also had a hit.
Knutzen pitched into the sixth inning without allowing a run. He also allowed just two hits while striking out seven. Junior lefty Tyler Haggith got the final five outs of the contest to pick up the save.
The Borderites (12-8) advance to play Archbishop Murphy (16-4) on Saturday at Daniels Field in Anacortes at 3:00. The Wildcats beat Blaine 9-5 back on March 15th.
