Blazers Go 1-3 on First Road Trip

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The Centralia College baseball team hit the road for the first time this spring and came back from Pasco with its record back at .500, dropping both of its games to Columbia Basin — 3-2 and 9-1 — before splitting a Sunday doubleheader against Big Bend, winning 8-1 before losing 15-7.

Garrett Holpuch earned the lone win on the hill for the Blazers, going 5 ⅔ innings in the Sunday morning start, striking out four, and allowing one unearned run on four hits and two walks. Kaden Melzer and Ryan Hendrickson saw the win out, taking over in a 7-1 game and shutting Big Bend out the rest of the way.

Rochester product Tony Groninger led the Blazers in the win at the plate, going 3 for 4, with four RBIs, driving in a run apiece on three singles and throwing in a sacrifice fly for good measure. He was the key part of a dominant game for the top of the Centralia order; Zaia Acklus, Groninger, Braize Mitchell, and River Terry all had multi-hit games in the first four spots in the lineup.

The Blazers couldn’t keep the momentum up on the hill in their second game against the Vikings, though, with Big Bend springing for two five-spots in the first five innings. Casen Taggart went 2 for 5 with an RBI single in the third and a bases-clearing triple in the fourth to lead the offense, while Acklus added his third extra-base hit of the day and Groninger wore a pitch with the bases loaded for an RBI.

The Sunday split saved Centralia from a winless weekend after a tough Saturday against Columbia Basin. The Blazers scored three runs against the Hawks, only one of which came in the first eight innings of the two games. In the opener, Centralia trailed 3-1 going into the ninth before Bennett Comes brought Taggart in on an RBI grounder, and it got Aidan Marsh into scoring position with two outs, but couldn’t bring him home.

Game 2 wasn’t as close, with CBC’s Cameron Soliz and Ethan Petty combining for 12 strikeouts in a one-hitter. The Hawks struck for three runs in the first, three runs in the eighth, and three runs in between to lead 9-0 before Centralia got one back much too late.

Centralia College will be back at home next weekend, hosting Walla Walla for a pair of doubleheaders.