Surging Braves bolt to top of league baseball standings

The La Conner High baseball team answered several questions last week with three big statement wins.

All of which had Braves coach Jeremiah LeSourd speaking in superlatives and exclamation points afterward.

“We had our best week of the year,” LeSourd stressed Saturday, following a clutch 7-6 non-conference win over Mount Baker, his club’s third triumph in five days.

“The team is having fun and continuing to improve,” he added. “The pitchers and defense kept us in games, and offensively we had big innings that put us over the top.”

It doesn’t get much better than that.

Especially when one of the week’s three victories was a tidy 4-3 win over previously undefeated Friday Harbor, the end result of which was to lift La Conner atop NW2B standings with a 5-1 mark.

Logan James lined a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh to break a 3-3 deadlock and make a winner of Braves hurler Max Miller, who fanned seven Friday Harbor batters in a gutsy route-going performance.

“Max pitched a strong game against a solid league opponent,” said LeSourd. “He struck out the seven hitters and pitched himself out of trouble while going the distance for us.”

Miller also helped himself at the plate.

He, James, and Taylor Swanson each crossed the plate in the opening stanza as La Conner took a quick 3-0 lead.

The Wolverines knotted the score in the fifth, setting the stage for La Conner’s heroics in the late going.

With two down in the seventh, and the game seemingly headed to extra innings, James Hulbert legged out an infield single. He promptly advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch, then plated on the James safety.

Miller was backed by two-hit days from Swanson and James, plus a single and RBI from Matt Semrau.

He also benefitted from the return of Cameron Hansen, previously sidelined by injury, who bolstered the Braves’ defense at shortstop.

La Conner followed a similar formula in the one-run verdict over Mount Baker.

Semrau, Hulbert, and Hansen sparked a six-run second inning rally with run-producing base knocks.

The Braves added a lone marker — ultimately the game-winning run — when Preston Stewart delivered Hansen with a single in the fourth.

James scattered five hits over five innings, yielding just two earned runs before giving way to the bullpen.

Swanson came on to toss a scoreless sixth, serving as set-up man to Hansen, who closed the game and earned the save.

The two tight wins sandwiched a 27-1 La Conner blowout at Cedar Park on Friday.

The Braves erupted for 10 runs in the first and scored at least two runs in each successive inning.

“Everyone was ready to hit,” LeSourd said, “and it was an excellent confidence builder.”

Erick Reinstra, Hulbert, and Riley Stewart shared mound duties, combining on a three-hitter. Cedar Park’s only tally was unearned.

Hansen led the La Conner onslaught with three singles, a double, and four RBIs in five trips. James clouted a home run among his trio of hits, and drove in three runs. Hulbert was three of four with a run batted in.

Miller blasted a pair of doubles and drove in two scores.

La Conner, which entered Monday’s play at Shoreline Christian with a 7-4 overall slate, was scheduled at Lummi on Tuesday.

The Braves return home this Friday to face league rival Concrete in a 4 p.m. start.