The Battle Floor baseball crew put collectively its high efficiency of the season at a time when the Tigers actually wanted it.
That evaluation, within the eyes of Battle Floor coach Seth Johnson, got here after the Tigers took down Skyview 4-0 within the rubber match of a three-game sequence Thursday, transferring them right into a tie for second place within the 4A Higher. St. Helens League standings forward of subsequent week’s sequence in opposition to league chief Union, which took two of three in opposition to Camas.
After an up and down two weeks within the 4A GSHL, Battle Floor (8-7, 3-3) was at its finest with ace pitcher James Gill on the mound Thursday, limiting Skyview to only three hits with eight strikeouts and no walks over seven scoreless innings. Jayden Sivits drove in two of the Tigers’ 4 runs and Gill went 3-for-3 — all doubles — with an RBI.
“Not even close, our most complete game,” Johnson mentioned. “We pitched it well (and) we discussed it with the coaches — we didn’t have a single mental mistake. Usually you have two or three, and those are learning experiences, but that was our most complete game, for sure.”
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A quick begin within the high of the primary inning confirmed Battle Floor meant enterprise. Leadoff hitter Cooper McGowan acquired behind within the depend in opposition to Skyview pitcher Dylan Goetz, however the sophomore battled again to slash a double and rating on a Gill extra-base hit.
“It really broke us open, and we started getting more runs after that,” Sivits mentioned.
Sivits added an RBI single to identify Gill, the reigning 4A GSHL participant of the 12 months, a two-run lead earlier than taking the mound. The junior lefty, a Washington commit, wanted simply 74 pitches over seven innings, 59 of which had been referred to as strikes.
“Mind free, and just throw strikes,” Gill mentioned of his mindset. “If they’re not going to touch my fastball, I just keep (throwing) middle and just go.”
Additionally key for the Tigers was their power within the dugout, a palpably louder refrain of voices in comparison with earlier within the season. An eye fixed-opening second, in line with Sivits, got here after the Tigers gave up a multi-run result in Ridgefield and suffered a 5-3 loss in March.
“Ridgefield was rough,” Sivits mentioned, “and ever since then … we’ve been loud in the dugout.”
Battle Floor sat in final place of the league standings after shedding two of three in opposition to Camas and dropping Monday’s sequence opener in opposition to the Storm (7-9, 2-4). However two wins later, the Tigers have put themselves in rivalry for the 4A GSHL title and a second straight postseason berth.
“Going 1-2 against Camas and then 2-1 against (Skyview), it’s pretty big to get us back to that playoff position,” Gill mentioned.
“This week we kind of just woke up, practiced hard and now we’re ready.”
Sport one of many sequence in opposition to Union is slated for 4:30 p.m. Monday on the Titans’ dwelling turf.
“It’s one game at a time,” Johnson mentioned. “You can’t worry about the series, you just got to worry about Monday’s game, and that Monday game is a big game. (We’ll) treat it like a playoff game.”
