Royal, Wahluke split weekend baseball doubleheader
Royal High junior pitcher Danny Vermeer fires the ball to the plate during a South Central A Conference East baseball game at Wahluke. He dominated the Warrior batters in a 7-1 Royal victory.
Second baseman Brady Dixon of Royal High School gets the out at second and relays the ball to first base for a double play in South Central A Conference East baseball action at Wahluke on Saturday.
MATTAWA - Royal High School and Wahluke High School were thought to be evenly matched in baseball this year, and Saturday they split their South Central A Conference East doubleheader on the Wahluke diamond.
Wahluke secured its first SCAC East win in the first contest, 7-6, rallying from a 6-2 deficit. Royal took its second SCAC East victory, 7-1, in the second game behind the complete game pitching of junior ace Danny Vermeer.
"Danny Vermeer pitched great in the second game. I've got to hand it to him," Wahluke coach Matt Watrous said.
Vermeer was a leader for Royal all around. He batted 3-for-4, stole two bases and scored three runs. On the mound he struck out four Warriors.
Additional offensive help for the Knights in the second game came from Brady Whitaker, who drove in two runs. The highlight for the Warriors was pitcher Albaro Rodriguez in a loss.
"He threw 6-2/3 innings of mostly effective pitching," Watrous said.
Wahluke's biggest highlights came in the first game after it trailed 6-2 in the sixth inning. The Warriors scored four runs in the bottom of the frame, then got the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
The sixth started innocently enough, with a single by lead-off hitter Rodriguez. But he followed up with a steal of second and rode Jose Jimenez's double home.
The Warriors continued with their hitting, running attack. Oscar Jimenez scored Jose Jimenez with a single and then stole second to set up Jared Sabin's RBI double.
Jordan Zirker capped off the rally with a sacrifice fly to plate pinch runner Victor Sandoval with the tying run.
The winning run came from the fleet feet of center fielder Nick Prochet. He walked, stole second, advanced to third on a ground ball by Rodriguez and, with one out, raced home on a wild pitch.
Wahluke's season continues Saturday with two SCAC East games at Connell, starting at 11 a.m. Royal will be a home for two games with Burbank on Saturday, with first pitch slated for 11 a.m.