Baseball drifts on down to 4-7

Close games and sudden endings haven’t done the Falcons much good on the baseball diamond over the past few days.

Extra-inning losses to Cedarcrest and Sultan between Friday and Monday turned a two-game losing streak into a four-game slump and dropped the Falcons into second-to-last place in the standings at 4-7 overall.

The heartbreaker of the week was Friday’s 14-13 loss to the Red Wolves at Cedarcrest High School. After banging their way out to a four-run lead in the first inning — largely on the strength of a two-run Andrew Hosmer home run — the Falcons played a back-and-forth game with Cedarcrest. The Red Wolves came back in the bottom of the inning with a grand slam and a total of five runs to take the lead.

The Falcons took their final lead of the day in the seventh inning, gaining the upper hand to take the score to 13-11. In the bottom of the inning, they got the first out quickly on Lakota Holder’s pitching, but were then knocked back on their heels when the Red Wolves pounded out four hits and two runs to tie the contest.

In the bottom of the eighth, Cedarcrest won the game with what South Whidbey coach Dave Guetlin called a “controversial” play at home plate. With the loss, the Falcons drop all three of their games against the Red Wolves this season. South Whidbey and Cedarcrest are the only two 3A teams in the Cascade Conference and compete directly for district playoff spots.

Senior Dane Guetlin led all Falcon hitters with a 5-for-5 day and scoring three runs. Sophomore Joey Smith was 4-for-5 and also scored three times.

Monday’s game against Cascade cellar dweller Sultan was a tough one to swallow. In perfect baseball weather at South Whidbey High School, the Falcons lost an early, one-run lead, then went almost run for run with the Turks before losing 5-4 in the eighth inning. Although the Falcons put up more hits than Sultan and seemed to have more consistent pitching with junior Logan Hanna going the distance, they couldn’t put enough hitters on base or bring those that go there home.

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