In the final week of games before spring break stops play around the county, the Borderites fared well. Track and field hosted its lone meet of the season and set a ton of personal records, baseball got a pair of clutch conference wins, and girls tennis fought hard against a 3A conference foe.
The Borderites won in dramatic fashion on the road against Nooksack Valley on Friday, April 3, with a pair of clutch base hits from Aaron Garza and Kai Kerwin to break a 3-3 tie in the top of the sixth inning.
Garza had a great day in the batter’s box, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, leading the team in both categories. Junior Josh Cochran pitched a complete game, striking out 13 batters without issuing a walk. Cochran closed out the game with three straight strikeouts, and earned two walks and two runs scored on offense.
On Monday, April 6, at Pipeline Fields, the Borderites got plenty of runners on base, but couldn’t get a single run across, losing 2-0 to Sedro-Woolley.
Starting pitcher Ashton Vezzetti had a strong performance that probably didn’t deserve an official loss on his record, striking out three batters and allowing just one hit.
Hugo Vekved pitched a solid three innings in relief, not allowing a run, but the Borderites just couldn’t get its pitchers any runs. Despite not getting on the board, Elijah Wenger and Isaac Bouma each had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-3.
To round out pre-spring break play, the Borderites trounced conference foe Mt. Baker 21-9 on Tuesday, April 7. Garza went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs, and threw two innings of relief, striking out four batters.
As of press time, the Borderites are 4-5 with a 3-4 Northwest Conference (NWC) record, and sit in second place in 1A NWC, behind an undefeated Lynden Christian team. Those two will face off at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 13, at Lynden Christian.
Stats provided by whatcompreps.com
Blaine hosted Bellingham, Squalicum and Sedro-Woolley at Borderite Stadium on a rainy Wednesday, April 1, with the field team standing out in a crowded field.
Leif-Einar Engen led the way in shot put, placing fourth with a 37’1.5” effort. Teammates Asher Hagee and Connor Crews placed in the top 10, and three Borderites set personal bests. In discus, sophomore Aiden Mullins threw a season-best 81’5” en route to a fifth place finish.
Sawyer Mullenix placed fourth in the javelin event with a 113’3” throw, and Engen was right behind with a sixth place finish, throwing for 105’3”.
At the Trojan Twilight Invitational on Friday, April 3, Blaine had an excellent all-around performance, with a ton of personal best records being set on the road at Meridian.
Blaine’s jumpers especially showed out, with junior Landon Brown placing second in the high jump with a personal best height of 6’. Sophomore Samuel Campion placed third with his own personal best jump of 5’4”.
In the long jump, Hailey Kruse earned second place with a 14’10” jump, a personal best.
Freshman Zoe Hill led the way in the sprint events, placing sixth and setting a personal best time of 13.64 in the 100-meter dash. In the 200-meter race, Hill placed fifth with a time of 28.66.
Sophomore Carrie Balback had a great showing in her middle distance races. In the 400-meter, she placed ninth with a season-best time of 1:09.87, and logged another season-best time of 2:45.6 in the 800-meter final. In those two races, all six Borderites set either season- or personal-best times.
In the hurdles, Kruse set another personal record en route to a fourth place finish in the 110-meter hurdle, logging a time of 19.66.
Track and field will regroup for its first event after the weeklong spring hiatus on Saturday, April 11, at Civic Stadium in Bellingham for the Birger Solberg Invitational.
Results provided by athletic.net
The Blaine girls tennis team, which has had an up-and-down season, head into spring break with a 1-3 record.
Up until a 7-0 team loss on the road against Ferndale onThursday, April 2, each of Blaine’s first three matches were decided by just one individual match. Against Mount Vernon to start the season on March 24, Blaine lost 3-4, but still saw great wins from Kylee McNew, as well as from doubles partners Bea Dickson and Carly Saunders, and Ainslee Ellis and Hailey Johnson.
The Borderites earned its first team win at home against Sedro-Woolley on March 26, winning 4-3 thanks to wins from McNew (6-4, 6-3), and all three pairs of doubles partners, including Kylie Murillo and Chloe Biondolillo (6-2, 6-2).
Girls tennis will continue the season after spring break with a game against Lakewood at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, in Blaine.
Stats provided by whatcompreps.com
