Eastlake baseball dominates 14-0 over Jackson Timberwolves
On Saturday, May 17, the Eastlake Wolves delivered a dominant 14-0 win over the Jackson Timberwolves after the 10-run rule was invoked to end the game early in the fifth inning.
While neither team scored in the first inning, that changed in the second when Eastlake’s offense came to life. Larson Kohlmann hit a single to start the action. Noah Koong was thrown out at first but managed to advance Kohlmann to second. Kohlmann stole third, putting himself in scoring position. Dominic Miller hit, driving Kohlmann in for Eastlake’s first run of the game.
The third inning brought more of the same as Kade Haroldsen reached first base on an error after Timberwolf Austin Halvorson dropped the throw and failed to make an out. Jayden Matsuoka kept the momentum going with a single. With runners on first and second, Rodrigo Montano added another single that brought both Haroldsen and Matsuoka home. With Thomas Wood on third base, Kohlmann hit a double for another RBI and extended Eastlake’s lead, 4-0.
The Wolves broke the game wide open in the fourth inning. Miller ripped a double, and Travis Beam followed with a grounder to short. The fielder turned to catch Miller off second, but he got back safely, allowing Beam to reach first on a fielder’s choice. Both Miller and Beam advanced to third and second, respectively, on stolen bases, allowing Miller to score on a hit by Haroldsen. Matsuoka followed with an at-bat that drove in two more. He later scored on a wild pitch.
The rally kept rolling—Wood singled, Gabriel Prock walked, and Cody O’Donnell hit a sacrifice fly to bring Wood home. Prock crossed the plate on a hit from Koong. After a wild pitch moved runners up, Miller was replaced by pinch runner Matthew Muir. Marcus Frantela reached first, and the bases were loaded. Cruz Payne drove in Koong, Benjamin Byeman brought in Muir, and Sawyer Glade added two more runs by scoring Frantela and Payne. Eastlake, with a phenomenal run, totaled 10 runs in the fourth inning, extending the lead to 14-0.
If the game was going to continue, the Timberwolves would need a miracle to avoid the 10-run rule; if a team is behind by 10 points at the bottom of the fifth, the game is over. In the top of the fifth, the Timberwolves tried to respond, but the Eastlake defense was too good and shut them down.
Eastlake’s unusually hot bats added hits to seven players’ season stats. Dominic Miller went 1-for-2 with a double, a stolen base, and a run. Jayden Matsuoka also went 1-for-2 with two runs and an RBI.
Coach Elliot Cribby said, “It rained the entire game, and it didn’t phase us once. We executed at a very high level and put a lot of pressure on our opponent.”
The Wolves played the Curtis Vikings at Eastlake High School on Saturday, May 24, at 1 p.m.
