Royal baseball splits baseball games with Connell Saturday

ROYAL CITY — The Royal High School baseball team got two great pitching efforts from the Jenks brothers, but had only enough offense to win one of the contests against Connell in a SCAC-opening doubleheader Saturday.

Senior Kaden Jenks was the hard-luck pitcher in the first game, falling 4-1 even though he struck out 10 Eagles and gave up no earned runs over six innings. Sophomore Sawyer Jenks hurled a 2-hitter to win the second game, 4-2.

“Kaden did a great job working ahead and keeping us in a ball game,” coach Joe Avila said. “We had a bad fifth inning (errors) defensively, and it proved to be the difference.”

Royal didn't score until the seventh inning, when Addin Felker drove in J.C. Worsham with a RBI single. Worsham led off the inning with a double.

Sawyer Jenks and Corbin Christensen each added singles to the Royal cause.

“Offensively we struggled but had our opportunities; We just didn't cash in,” Avila said. “Their kid did a great job of mixing his pitches and keeping us off balance all day at the plate. Hats off to him.”

Sawyer Jenks pitched a complete game in the second contest. He gave the Eagles fits with a mix of pitches in the strike zone that caused Connell to hit the ball to the Knights' fielders.

“Sawyer threw the ball extremely well, attacking the zone and letting his defense work,” Avila said. “We needed him to step up, and that is exactly what he did. It was fun to watch.”

Corbin Christensen had a 2-out, 2-RBI double in the second inning and scored a run. Adrian Trinidad batted 2-for-2 with a walk, a double, a RBI and a run scored. Addin Felker and J.C. Worsham each had a double and a run scored. Kaden Jenks added a single and RBI.

“Offensively we caught a couple of breaks, found a few timely hits and came out on top,” Avila said. “Overall it was a good opening day at the yard. We would have liked to get both, but we are proud of the effort and attitude the players showed all day and were happy to walk away with a win.”

The Knights hosted Cascade Leavenworth yesterday in a non-league contest