Just as teams emerge from the spring break pause in action, Mother Nature decided to extend that pause. Poor weather caused cancellations for girls tennis and softball Tuesday, and each of those teams will look to return to the action later this week.
In the action that did happen, boys soccer wasn’t able to string together consecutive wins after defeating Mount Baker on the road, and baseball lost a heartbreaker to a conference rival Lynden Christian.
When we last checked in on Blaine boys soccer, the team was still searching for its first win just a few games into the season.
Now, the Borderites have picked up a pair of Northwest Conference wins and sit squarely in the middle of the pack – third place in the five-team 1A NWC – with a 2-7-1 record, above Nooksack Valley and Mount Baker, but looking up at Lynden Christian and first-place Meridian.
Blaine’s pair of wins so far this season has come against those bottom two 1A NWC teams, most recently a 2-0 win over Mount Baker on April 2.
After a nearly two week hiatus due to spring break, Blaine returned to the fray for a home game against 2A Burlington-Edison on April 14.
The Borderites couldn’t get in the flow offensively, creating just a few solid chances at goal before Burlington-Edison scored first roughly halfway through the first half.
Senior goalkeeper Abel Carlson-Vega attempted to corral a corner kick, but the wet and windy weather caused the ball to slip below his gloves. After a quick scrum, the rebound was booted into the back of the net, past a few lunging defenders for a Burlington-Edison score.
The second half was more of the same, with the Borderites unable to score on offense, and the Burlington-Edison notching another goal to leave Blaine with a 2-0 win.
With five games left of the regular season schedule, Blaine has a chance to move up the conference ladder, but would need to string some wins together, and fast.
The Borderites are scheduled to face top 3A team Mount Vernon (7-1-1 NWC record) on Thursday on the road, and then return home to face 2A Anacortes (3-8-0 NWC) on April 21.
Over the remainder of the regular season, the Borderites will face three teams with worse records and lower conference standings than Blaine, and could make a late season run to help build momentum for the 1A NWC postseason tournament in May.
Standings provided by nwcthletics.com
After scoring 21 runs en route to a – ahem, rout – of Mount Baker just before spring break, the Borderites were able to keep the bats hot after nearly a week off, scoring 10 runs against 1A NWC rival Lynden Christian Monday.
However, 10 runs wouldn’t be enough to defeat LC, which mounted a massive comeback to beat the Borderites 11-10.
Blaine jumped out to a 8-0 lead early in the game, thanks to two huge at bats from pitcher Josh Cochran. In the first inning, Cochran sent the first pitch of the game over the fence for a solo home run, then returned in the second inning for a two-run double. Cochran finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs, but was tagged with his second loss of the season on the mound, bringing his record to 2-2 as a pitcher.
LC started its comeback in the bottom of the third and brought the game within one run by the fourth inning. The Lyncs gained the lead in the fifth, but the Borderites were able to tie the game at 10-10 heading into the bottom of the sixth.
LC’s Sam Kok scored the walkoff run after a Blaine fielding error, allowing the Lyncs to escape with a narrow victory.
Blaine (4-6, 3-5 NWC) sits third in 1A NWC, just behind Nooksack Valley (4-7, 3-5) for second place.
The Borderites game against Squalicum, originally scheduled for Tuesday was rescheduled for 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at Squalicum High School (after press time). Blaine’s next home game is set for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 16 at Pipeline Fields.
Stats provided by whatcompreps.com
