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Newport pitcher Jared Fisher put on another dominate display on the mound Thursday, going six shutout inning, hurling his team to a 5-0 victory of Issaquah to remain alone in second place in the Crest division of 4A KingCo.
The Eagles, who were blanked earlier in the season by the Knights in a 1-0 game at Newport, managed only two hits and never found their comfort zone in the batters box against the UW commit.
Fisher had a consistently live fastball on the day, which topped out around 90 MPH according to one of the several radar guns brandished behind the plate by MLB scouts. “I thought he threw the ball well,” Newport coach Hal DeBerry said. “He was kind of feeling for it a little bit early, but as things went on he came around and started forcing the isue a little bit more, which is what we want him to do.”
Newport got on the board in the top half of the first when center fielder Nate Anderson jumped on a 1-0 pitch from Issaquah starter Andrew Kemmerer and deposited it over the right centerfield fence for a solo homerun.
And while that would end up being all the offense the Knights would need, the Eagles hopes virtually evaporated when Newport threw up a four spot in the third to take a 5-0 advantage.
The inning started innocently enough, with Nick Clifford drawing a four-pitch walk and moving to second on a Mason Paul sacrifice bunt. But another walk, this time on only five pitches to Billy Sahlinger, put Kemmmerer in a jam he would not dig out of.
Nate Anderson singled in the next at-bat to load the bases and Daniel Altchech followed that with a single of his own, scoring Sahlinger and Clifford.
After Fisher flied out to shortstop, it looked as though the Eagles may escape the inning without further damage, but Cole Wiper had other plans, singling home Anderson.
Kemmerer’s day would end after two more walks, the second of which forced home Altchech to push the Newport lead to 5-0, drawing the ire of Issaquah coach Rob Reese.
DeBerry and Fisher both talked about the luxury of building an early lead, especially with one of their aces on the mound. “It kind of takes the pressure off everybody a little bit,” DeBerry said with his starting pitcher adding, “when you’ve got a few runs, all you want to do is get ahead and get guys out.”
Issaquah attempted to respond in their half of the inning, getting back to back hits with two outs before Fisher baffled Ethan Kalin with a tight breaking ball in the dirt for the third out. “I had all my pitches going, curveball fastball and changeup so that kept them off balance a lot,” Fisher said.
The senior cruised after that, allowing only a pair of walks before handing the ball to Cole Wiper for the final three outs.
With the win, the Knights take control of second place in the division and are now two full games ahead of the Eagles. Aside from jostling with Issaquah for seeding in the KingCo tournament, both Fisher and DeBerry said it is always good to beat a team they consider a rival.
“Anytime we’re able to beat Issaquah, I feel good about that,” DeBerry said. “They are incredibly well coached, they have tradition and history and they’re going to compete their tails off.” Fisher echoed his coaches sentiments on the Eagles. “It’s always good, they’re good every year and it’s always nice to get a win against them.”
Vikings drop another
The Bellevue Christian baseball team continued its free fall, dropping their eighth straight, this time 17-7 to Rainier in a non-league game on Thursday.
Blake Rudd-Johnson lasted only two and two-thirds innings and was tagged with the loss. The Vikings again struggled in the field, committing five errors for the game.
Bellevue Christian softball wins big
The Bellevue Christian softball team was dominate in the field as well as at the plate on Thursday, beating University Prep by a final score of 14-3. Amanda Friemel picked up the win for the Lady Vikes. Kendra Hamilton was 4-4 on the day and also scored four runs in the win. Ali King had a 2-4 day at the plate with a double and a homerun.
Newport trailed 1-0 after an inning and a half of their softball game against Issaquah before taking control with a pair of runs in the second and a five-spot in the third. The Knights will take on Lake Washington Saturday at the University of Washington softball field in a non-league contest.
Three run first lifts Mount Si over Interlake
The Wildcats allowed a single run in the first to the visiting Saints, but responded with three runs and held the lead until the top of the sixth. Interlake put up two in sixth, tying the game at three before the Wildcats scored the decisive run in the bottom of the inning and hung on for the win. Shelby Scott had a 3-4 day at the plate, with a double and an RBI and Maddy McCaslin went 2-4, scoring a run.
Fleischman gets Bellevue back on track
Emily Fleischman tossed a complete game two-hitter, allowing only a single run and striking out nine as the Bellevue softball team got back to their winning ways with a 6-1 victory over Liberty on Thursday at Bellevue High School. Marika McCarthy, Katie Savard and Anjani Briggs each had two-hit games for the Wolverines in the win.
