Hornets' Bats Overwhelm Bonney Lake 16-6

D.J. Hitch's three-run homerun in the second inning along with an eleven-run barrage in the bottom of the third inning paced Enumclaw (11-1, 7-1 SPSL 3A) to a 16-6 five-inning victory over Bonney Lake (6-7, 6-4 SPSL 3A) on Wednesday night at Osborne Field in Enumclaw. 

"We got better from yesterday to today," Hornet coach Eric Fiedler said. "It was a big win for us as we clinched the season series over Bonney Lake giving us any tie-breakers over them if that were to happen."

"It was a tough game; they (Enumclaw) swing the bat really well," Bonney Lake coach Mike Olson said. "Their 7-8-9 hitters really got us, and our relief pitchers just couldn't find the zones."

The Panthers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning thanks to a lead-off single by catcher Nate Potterf who went 2 for 3 on the evening to pace Bonney Lake. Potterf came around to score after advancing to second base on a Cody Hughes wild pitch and Michael Gretler got aboard thanks to an error by the Hornets. Gretler would then score on a Chris Brown single.

Enumclaw would come right back in the bottom of the second inning. Kyle Baumgartner jump-started the inning with a hard-hit triple into the left center field gap. Marcus Madden would drive him in with a single to cut the lead to 2-1, and then a few batters later, Hitch blasted a three-run homerun over the left center field fence to put the Hornets ahead 5-2 going into the third inning.

"It was a 1-0 fastball, down in the zone and I just went and got it," Hitch said. "I knew he behind in the count early on so I was expecting a fastball."

Bonney Lake came right back and battled the game back to a 5-5 tie thanks to a series of base hits by Dylan Moran, Taiki Green,and a big two-run double by Potterf cutting the lead to 5-4, and then Brown tied the game up with a sharply hit single scoring Potterf.

Enumclaw would break the game open in the bottom of the third as they sent 17 batters to the plate scoring 11 runs to put the game out of the reach at 16-5. The combination of Baumgartner and Madden ignited the rally with a double and an RBI single, respectively, along with an Eric Koenig three-run homerun. Fiedler said it was important for those two players to get going offensively for the Hornets.

"Kyle and Marcus energized us in that inning," Fiedler said. "We also had controlled swings as well as the kids made adjustments the second time around the order."

Reflecting on his role in the big inning and the offensive performance of the Hornets as well in getting the decisive win over the Panthers, Baumgartner said, "I was just trying to go up and be relaxed. I was just sitting on first pitch fastballs."

On Enumclaw's hitting prowess, Baumgartner said, "One through nine everyone can hit and if you flip it nine through one it would be just as powerful."

Bonney Lake would continue to battle until the end and that did not go unnoticed by coach Fiedler.

"They are a well-coached team and capable of beating us," Fiedler said. "It was 16-5 in the top of the fifth and their players were still into the game. We have a lot of respect for the (Panther) program."

Both teams have a short turn-around with games on Thursday and both Olson and Fiedler expect their teams to be ready to go no matter what.

"We will come out focused tomorrow [Thursday] against Decatur," Olson said. "We played them early on when we were still getting our offense figured out and lost to them this past Saturday but we are the better club and will show it tomorrow."

Fiedler said of the Hornets' Lakes game, "We will start Dylan Kleist tomorrow and bring up some JV pitchers to give us some innings and I expect these guys to step up tomorrow."

Enumclaw hosts Lakes at 4 p.m. today, and Bonney Lake travels to Decatur today with a start time of 4 p.m.

Box Score

Bonney Lake   023 01-- 6-9-0

Enumclaw       0511 0x-- 16-12-2

WP: Hughes

LP:  Brown

HR:  D.J. Hitch, Enumclaw, and Eric Koenig, Enumclaw