Cruiser Baseball Drops Season Opener, 7-5

Eatonville's Blain Hanly would get the start for the Cruisers on Opening Day. Hanly would pitch two innings, surrendering only two runs on 3 hits. At the plate, he was 1-2 with a double, a run scored, and drove in the Cruiser's first run of the season. Photo: Eric Storm

Despite coming back from a 5 run deficit in the fifth, the Cruisers fell 7-5 to the Fife Trojans in a time-shortened six-inning game this past Friday.

Getting the nod for the opening day start for the Cruisers was Senior Blain Hanly.

The Trojans would strike first when Nixon drove in two in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.

Eatonville would answer back in the bottom of the first when Hanly would double to left-center field scoring Brandon Storm and Jakob Lucht.

With the game tied at 2-2, the Trojans broke things open in the fourth inning when they took advantage of a couple of hit batters, a walk, a base hit, and an error and would score four runs to take a 6-2 lead. They would add one more run in the fifth inning to extend their lead to 7-2.

The Cruisers would try and claw their way back in the game when Daly Curtis would draw a bases-loaded walk and then Skylar Sarpy would drive in two more runs with a hard-hit ball to right field to cut the Trojan lead to two at 7-5.

In the final inning, Lucht would hit a double that would send the tying run to the plate, but Fife’s Braden Bedell would get Blain Hanly to ground out to end the game.

Ashton Meyer, who came on in relief in the third inning, would be credited with the loss for the Cruisers.

Offensively, Eatonville would score those 5 runs on 5 hits and 2 errors.

Jakob Lucht would go 2-4 with a single, double, and score a run. Blain Hanly was 1-2 with a double, hit by a pitch twice, drove in a run, and scored as well. Skylar Sarpy would drive in two runs with a single. Payton Hanly would go 0-2 with a walk and drive in a run on a ground out and also score a run himself. Ashton Meyer went 1-3 with a single and a run scored.

The Cruisers look to bounce back next week when they host the Washington Patriots on Tuesday in a non-league affair at 4:00 pm, followed by another non-league affair against their rivals, the Orting Cardinals, at 4:00 pm.