Baxter dominates on the mound as Eastside Catholic beats Lakeside

The Eastside Catholic Crusaders defeated the Lakeside Lions 4-1 behind a dominant performance on the mound from Jay Baxter on Monday.

Baxter threw a complete game, striking out 11 batters while allowing just four hits and one earned run across seven innings. He consistently worked ahead in counts throughout the night and finished with 95 pitches, 65 of them strikes. Aside from one swing in the second inning, Lakeside struggled to find any rhythm against the Crusader pitcher.

That swing came from Pete Weymuller, who gave Lakeside an early lead with a solo home run to right field in the top of the second inning.

However, Eastside Catholic responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Kai Jambor reached base to start the rally before Xavier Padilla drove in the tying run with an RBI single. Moments later, Vio Ng followed with another run-scoring single that pushed the Crusaders ahead 2-1.

From there, Baxter settled in on the mound and worked his way into a rhythm. Eastside Catholic continued to look for chances to extend the lead.

The Crusaders added two important insurance runs in the sixth inning. Kellen Reese sparked the rally with a double to left field. Ryan Long followed with an RBI double that brought Reese home. Jambor then delivered another key hit with an RBI single that scored Long and extended the Eastside Catholic lead to three runs.

Long and Jambor led the Crusaders at the plate with two hits each. Long finished 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, an RBI, and two runs scored. Jambor went 2-for-2 with an RBI, a walk, and a stolen base. Padilla and Ng each added an RBI during the second inning rally.

Eastside Catholic also played a clean defensive game, committing no errors. Long led the team with 11 fielding chances behind the plate.