The last time the Mount Vernon baseball team took the baseball diamond, the Bulldogs throttled Kennewick 14-6 in the 3A state championship game.
In their first game of the 2026 season as reigning state champions, the high-powered Bulldogs only mustered up two hits against a Capital team that returned zero varsity innings of experience entering this spring.
Despite the strong day from the Cougars on the mound in the hits category, Capital fell 7-3 to the Bulldogs Saturday at Sherman Anderson Field in Mount Vernon. The Cougars pitchers allowed 10 walks in the defeat.
“We’re proud of the way our guys battled today. We make it a priority to schedule tough non-league competition each year, and we knew it was going to be tough starting the year with a very good Stanwood team and then the defending state champs today,” Capital head coach Brian Shannon said. “But our team didn’t give up and competed well for seven innings.”
Mount Vernon struck first in the first inning against Cougars starter Brooks Barker as the first two batters walked and then scored on a Bode Webb single to center field. Capital managed to turn a double play with two runners on to end the inning.
Another Bulldog scored from a walk in the second inning, and they tallied a three-run fourth without a hit. Down 6-0, Capital put together its best inning of offense of the young season in the fifth. Isaac Linville walked to lead off the frame, and Garred Clark took his place on a fielder’s choice. Charles McSwain put two runners on with a single, and with two outs, Lane Nixon delivered Capital’s first run of the season with an RBI single.
Cash VanZandt walked to load the bases, and Tanner Barker cranked a two-run line-drive single to left field to bring the Cougars within three runs. Capital brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth inning but couldn’t capitalize.
Mount Vernon added an insurance run in the sixth, once again scoring without needing a hit. Cougars senior pitcher Max Hanson impressed out of the pen, throwing two hitless innings and striking out four, including three in a row in the fifth.
“It was good to see our bats come alive a little bit today, and our pitchers did a great job limiting them to just two hits,” Shannon said. “We’re looking forward to cleaning up some of the things we saw this weekend and continuing to get better each day.”
Capital (0-2) will look for its first win Tuesday in its home opener against Mount Tahoma.
