Rural Baseball Inc. used a three-pronged pitching attack to hold off Lower Columbia Baseball Club’s AA team, Rohl Roofing, in a 5-2 season-opening victory in senior Babe Ruth action Tuesday night at Mark Morris High School.
Mekhi Morlin, of Winlock High School, started on the mound for the dirtbags, striking out three and allowing two hits across two scoreless innings.
Dylan Mills, of Kalama, spun two hitless innings in relief, while 2021 Toledo grad Ryan Bloomstrom notched a two-inning save while striking out one and allowing a lone hit.
"Bloomstrom did what Bloomstrom does; pound zone (and) get outs,” RBI coach Jordan Nailon said. “I think I even saw him smile. Dylan Mills did a great job in relief. He's a lefty with a ton of movement and he just needs to balance his spine rate against the rotation of the earth and he'll be just fine."
Kyuss Mano, a 2021 Centralia grad, led the Dirtbags at the plate, going 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI. Nailon praised his performance tracking down fly balls in right field, including a nice snap against the fence in foul territory.
Caden Norton added a double and a run, while Morlin and Mills also had hits.
Daymon Gressett and Todd Tabor (4) split the catching duties.
"It was a fairly clean game defensively with just one error on our end and we were aggressive in all phases of the game,” Nailon said. “Not a bad place to be after two practices and one road win."
The Dirtbags are hosting the sixth annual Dave Orzel Memorial Tournament, which kicks off at 6 p.m. on Wednesday with the alumni game. Real games start Thursday afternoon at Winlock High School. RBI plays at 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday.
