Orcas teams flee La Conner with close wins on the diamonds

If it wasn’t for bad luck, the La Conner High School’s softball team wouldn’t have any luck at all.

For the second time in four outings, head coach Loran James’ young club came up on the short end of a one-run contest.

The Lady Braves (0-4 overall; 0-2 in league) lost 7-6 March 29 to visiting NW2B/1B rival Orcas Island. La Conner had earlier dropped a 15-14 non-conference slugfest at Muckleshoot.

After escaping town with its narrow triumph, Orcas (2-8 overall; 2-2 in league) pounded league foe Concrete 29-11.

La Conner travels to Concrete April 9 (4 p.m.) after returning from spring break.

The La Conner baseball team (3-2 overall; 1-2 in conference) had equally bad luck against Orcas on March 29, falling 9-6 due to one bad inning – a six-run Viking rally in the second inning fueled by three Braves fielding miscues.

The Vikings then built a seemingly insurmountable 9-1 lead in the top of the third.

But La Conner came roaring back. The hosts scored twice in their half of the third on a run-scoring single by Logan Burks, who later plated on a passed ball.

The Braves tacked on another run in the fourth, trimming the Orcas lead to 9-4, when Brogan Masonholder legged out an infield single and came around to score on three successive wild pitches.

La Conner narrowed the final margin to 9-6 with two runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Eighth-grader Charley Jackson opened the final stanza with an infield hit, moved to second on a one-out walk to Ivory Damien, then scored on a two-out Viking error.

Damien followed with La Conner’s final tally by scampering home on a wild pitch.

Despite the loss, Braves’ coach Jeremiah LeSourd saw plenty to make him optimistic heading into a non-league road test at 1A Sultan.

“We were aggressive on the base paths, and that was good to see,” LeSourd said after the game. “Plus, Logan (Burks) pitched very well in relief.”

Burks, a senior lefthander, fanned five batters and held ­Orcas scoreless over four innings.

In addition, the Braves backed Burks with an inning-ending double play in the fourth. With one out and a Viking on second base, Burks induced a flyout to Jackson in right. Jackson threw to third baseman Nathan Bailey, who relayed to catcher C.J. Edwards for the putout at the plate.

Edwards, primarily a middle infielder, showed his versatility by throwing out two Viking baserunners attempting to steal second base.

Kenai Zimmerman paced the La Conner attack with a double. Masonholder, Jackson and Burks recorded singles.

The Braves resume NW2B/1B play April 9 at Concrete in a 4 p.m. start.