Building some momentum for the post season, the Oak Harbor Legion baseball team finished its league schedule by defeating first-place Ferndale twice Thursday, July 11, in Oak Harbor.
Oak Harbor (21-10) wraps up the regular season with a nonleague home double header against Sequim at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 13.
The wins over Ferndale raised Oak Harbor’s conference mark to 9-7, good for fifth in the nine-team league.
The district tournament begins Wednesday, July 17, at the Skagit Valley Dream Field in Mount Vernon. Oak Harbor most likely will face fourth-place Burlington (10-6) at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Oak Harbor doubled Ferndale’s (9-4) league losses by drubbing the Golden Eagles 8-2 and 16-6.
In game one, Ferndale scored a run in the top of the first and Oak Harbor countered with two on singles by Jack Richter, Brandon Bailey and C.J. Meders.
After Ferndale tied it in the fourth, Oak Harbor took the lead for good with three runs in its half. Singles by Meders, Teddy Peterschmidt and Rhys Mattila; an RBI ground out by Tyler Snavely; and a sacrifice fly from Danny Wolfe produced the runs.
Oak Harbor added three more runs in the sixth with the help of base hits by Richter, Peterschmidt and Anthony Stewart.
Peterschmidt threw a four-hitter with one strike out, no walks and no earned runs.
Oak Harbor scored four or more runs in three innings in the second game, starting with a four-run first.
Stewart walked and scored on Richter’s double. Bailey singled in Richter and scored along with Meders, who was hit by a pitch, on Peterschmidt’s triple.
A seven-run second increased the cushion. Brent Mertins started the inning with a double and finished it with a single. Richter, Peterschmidt and Snavely each ripped two-run singles.
Ferndale scored five runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to make it 11-6, then Oak Harbor 10-runned the Eagles with five runs in the sixth.
Singles by Jozef Mendoza, Wolfe and Snavely; a walk; and a two-run error picked up the six runs.
Mertins finished 3-for-5; Richter, Bailey, Peterschmidt and Snavely each had two hits; and Mendoza, Wolfe and Quentin Tungate singled.
Richter was the winning pitcher.
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Danny Wolfe puts down a bunt for a base hit in Oak Harbor’s 16-6 win over Ferndale.
