Borderites baseball beats Mountlake Terrace in must-win playoff game

Pitching powered Blaine baseball to a 3–0 victory in a loser-out first round playoff game against Mountlake Terrace on April 30 at Pipeline Fields.

Blaine starting pitcher Colby Knutzen threw five-and-a-third innings and struck out seven. Tyler Haggith closed the game for the Borderites and didn’t allow a single hit.

“Colby getting off to a good start gave us that energy and confidence,” said Blaine head coach Tanner Olson. “Tyler’s been the dude out of the bullpen. With his size and arm and being a lefty, he’s almost cheating.”

Blaine’s runs came one at a time through hard-fought at-bats against Mountlake Terrace starter Dillon Gordon. Ryan Turnberg got Blaine’s first base hit, a single through the infield in the third inning. He advanced to second base on a bunt and to third on an error. Nick Gunderson hit a sacrifice fly to bring him home.

In the fourth inning, Turnberg walked with the bases loaded, forcing in Blaine’s second run.

The Borderites got six hits, while allowing two hits from Mountlake Terrace. Chase Abshere hit a double and scored Blaine’s third run on an error. Tobin Akre hit two singles.

With the must-win round of the tournament out of the way, the pressure is off for the Borderites, though they play top-seeded Archbishop Murphy next at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, at Daniels Field in Anacortes.

Blaine lost to Archbishop Murphy 9–5 in a regular season game on March 15.

After two scoreless games in late April, the Borderites improved at-bat over the last two games. If Blaine can keep that up, Olson expects they’ll have a chance against Archbishop Murphy.

“We’re still not 100 percent but the fact that we’re putting together quality at-bats against a good pitcher like that – we have a lot of confidence going into Saturday,” Olson said after the April 30 game.