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STRIKE FORCE – La Conner pitcher Haydin Dinuis delivers a strike while tossing a clean third inning in league baseball action with Mount Vernon Christian Friday afternoon. The Braves also held MVC scoreless in the fourth frame but fell 20-3 in their home debut. It was La Conner’s first home game in three years. – Photo by Bill Reynolds
Last Friday marked the first home baseball game for La Conner High in three years.
But the youthful Braves, whose roster includes seven freshmen and two eighth graders, did not enjoy a total home field advantage.
That is because La Conner was paired against NW2B rival Mount Vernon Christian, which had already played twice on the Braves’ diamond this spring.
The Hurricanes, who for a third time brought a large entourage of fans, are using the La Conner field as their home venue this season until cleared to play on the Mount Vernon High campus.
Mount Vernon Christian also brought to La Conner a potent lineup that pounded out a 20-3 five inning league triumph.
Alec Flury, Christian Kilvert and Trevor Boon scored three runs each for the Hurricanes.
Flury led off the game with a line drive single to center field that opened the floodgates for a nine-run outburst. Boon and Teagan Benfit keyed the frame with run-scoring base hits.
Mount Vernon Christian tacked on two runs in the second inning and posted another nine-spot in the fifth.
The Hurricanes took advantage of five La Conner fielding errors.
Braves pitcher Haydin Dinuis, a junior righthander, kept MVC off the board in the third and fourth innings, recording a pair of strikeouts and inducing two groundouts and flyouts each over that span.
Dinuis also tallied one of La Conner’s scores when he drew a no-out walk in the home third and came around on an RBI single by freshman Logan Burks.
Cameron Burks plated twice for the Braves. He doubled in the first inning and scored courtesy an errant Hurricane throw. The junior shortstop, who also made a fine running catch in support of Dinuis, singled, stole second and scored on a sharp grounder from frosh catcher Kenai Zimmerman in the third inning.
Eighth grader C.J. Edwards rounded out the La Conner offense with a second inning single.
“After the first inning, when we got off to that rough start, we settled down and played some good baseball in stretches,” said La Conner coach
Jeremiah LeSourd, no stranger to guiding the Braves on deep playoff runs and thus able to shrug off the double-digit setback.
Mount Vernon Christian hurler Jordan Feddema, himself an eighth grader, struck out six La Conner hitters to pick up the victory. The win was MVC’s second straight after opening the campaign with three consecutive losses.
The Braves’ lone 12th grader, starting outfielder Alden Schnabel, was recognized on what was La Conner High’s Baseball Senior Day – shifted to the team’s home opener in part because of the abbreviated and modified season schedule adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 wiped out La Conner’s 2020 season. The Braves did not have enough players to field a team in 2019.
So, having a team at all in 2021 is a big win for La Conner.
“It was good to finally play a home game,” said LeSourd. “We’re a young team. The kids are learning the game, playing hard and gaining experience and we all really appreciate the crowd support we had today.”
The Braves (0-4), were scheduled to host Friday Harbor in a league twin bill Tuesday and entertain Orcas Friday at 3:30 p.m. La Conner visits Concrete March 30 at 4 p.m.
Mount Vernon
Christian 920 09...................20 9 3
La Conner 102 00.....................3 4 5
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