A sixth-inning rally helped the North Thurston baseball team churn out a 10-6 victory against Timberline Tuesday afternoon.
In a back-and-forth contest, the Rams climbed back from a 6-4 deficit, bringing six runs home in the sixth inning. North Thurston struck first in the first inning as Zachary Albright’s two-run triple put the Rams on the board, followed by David Perez’s RBI groundout.
Timberline answered in the top of the second with a run provided by Kyle Brown’s single. The Blazers tied the game in the third, tallying a run on an RBI double by Zane Fraser, who then scored the tying run on an error.
North Thurston took a one-run lead in the bottom of the third but left the bases loaded with a chance to blow the game open. With two outs in the fifth, the Blazers put three straight batters on base and scored two on wild pitches and passed balls to take a 5-4 advantage.
After another passed ball by the Rams scored another run for Timberline in the sixth, North Thurston loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth with no outs. Ethan Shaefer singled to score Wyatt Albertson and cut the margin to one, and a bases-loaded walk by Kole French scored the tying run. Albright drilled the go-ahead RBI single to left field, and the Rams kept it rolling with another bases-loaded walk and a two-run single by Jordan Dircks that served as the dagger.
Shaefer pitched five strong innings for the Rams, allowing six runs, two of which were earned, off five hits and one walk while striking out five. Grady Wright pitched the seventh, escaping two consecutive walks as the Rams infield turned a game-ending double play.
“We struggled early to throw strikes, which put us in some tough situations. Offensively, I thought we competed,” Timberline head coach Doug LaPalm said. “We took advantage of some errors and passed balls.”
Albright finished 2 of 2 at the plate with three runs batted in and three runs scored, while David Perez tallied three RBIs without needing a hit.
For Timberline, Marley Gamble pitched three hitless innings of relief for starter Ryan Wolfe to keep the Blazers in front.
“Marley Gamble came in a relief situation and competed really well,” LaPalm said. “In the sixth, we put too many baserunners on.”
North Thurston (4-2, 3-2 Puget Sound League) and Timberline (2-5, 2-4 Puget Sound League) will meet again Wednesday at Timberline High School.
