The Centralia College baseball team went over the mountains for a midweek doubleheader and came back home with a sweep, beating Yakima Valley 12-8 and 7-5 in 10 innings.
“Our goal every series is to come out with the win, and this makes our third full series win this season,” CC coach Ben Harley said. “The guys continue to battle every pitch regardless of the score. They’ve done a great job answering when opposing teams put up a run.”
The Blazers took Game 1 on the back of a pair of big innings, putting up five runs in the top of the third and four more in the top of the eighth, leading 11-5 going into the final frame before the Yaks got a few back, too late.
Casen Taggart kept up his power surge to start the season, hitting his fifth home run and driving in four runs in the game. Tony Groninger went 3 for 5 at the top of the lineup with a double, and Bennett Comes and Reid Sturn added two-hit games.
Centralia needed an extra frame to get the job done in Game 2, but came away with a pair of runs in the 10th to win.
Comes logged three more hits in the sequel, finishing his day with five knocks. Ryan Henrickson threw six shutout innings in his first collegiate start before running into a bit of trouble in the seventh, finishing with eight strikeouts and two runs allowed.
Centralia will get a week off before dipping out of NWAC ball for a weekend, hosting Pacific University’s JV team for two games next Saturday.
