SPORTS
by Jack Kintner

Borderites bow to Mt. Vernon Bulldogs in 14-6 loss

Mt. Vernon’s Corey Kendrick used the long ball twice to blow open a fairly close contest under cool sunny skies Tuesday at the Pipe as Blaine bowed to the Bulldogs 14-6. Blaine held the lead at the end of one, 2-1, and came back to cut Mt. Vernon’s lead within one run in the fourth, 5-4, and two runs in the seventh.

But each time the Borderites came up for air, Kendrick blasted the long ball over the outfield fence, hitting two 3-run dingers and a triple for a 6 RBI afternoon.

Blaine actually wasn’t that far out of the contest, with 9 hits to Mt. Vernon’s 10. Lefty frosh Kyle Olason went 3 for 4 with a double and scored twice, and Joey Paciorek went 3 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI.

Blaine catcher Carl Anderson survived a scare in the fourth inning when a Mt. Vernon baserunner spiked him in the right thigh in a close play at the plate, but other than ripping a gaping hole in his uniform pants he seemed none the worse for wear.

Blaine’s 6 errors, to Mt. Vernon’s 3, especially their timing, was the difference, that and how well Mt. Vernon pitcher Matt Woddard scattered Blaine’s offensive output. Blaine’s Ryan Johnson took the loss and is now 2-2 on the year.

Despite the lopsided loss, Blaine finds itself in fifth place (out of 14 teams) in the Northwest Conference with a 4-5 over-all record, 3-1 in league play. Last week three conference teams were ranked in a state-wide coaches poll – Sehome was number 4 in class 2-AA and Burlington-Edison is number 10, and Ferndale is number 7 in 3-AAA.
The B’s played Meridian on the road after press time and then will face Mt. Baker Friday night in Deming.