The Issaquah Eagles baseball team is undefeated in early season action on the diamond.
The Eagles captured their second consecutive victory, courtesy of a 7-3 win against the Kentridge Chargers in a non-league contest on March 17 at Issaquah High School. Issaquah defeated Garfield 3-1 in the season opener on March 16.
Issaquah starting pitcher Greg Ketron picked up the win on the hill for the Eagles, turning in a solid five innings of work. Ketron surrendered three hits and one earned run in the first inning but quickly got on track. In the final four innings, Ketron allowed just one run and one hit while fanning four Kentridge batters. He also induced Kentridge into seven outs via ground-balls.
“The changeup was working and they just couldn’t hit the curveball,” Ketron said.
Ketron said that Eagles’ catcher Kyle DeCamp and him are on the same page when he is on the bump.
“Kyle and I like throwing the changeup. We get a lot of ground-balls with it and they also swing through it a lot. The curveball was a strikeout pitch today,” he said.
The Eagles bats heated up in the bottom of the fourth inning. With the Eagles leading the Chargers 4-3, Griffin Morimoto doubled to right field picking up 2 RBI lengthening the lead to 6-3. Later in the inning a Corey Chaplin single scored Morimoto from second base, extending Issaquah’s lead to 7-3. Scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth was just what the doctor ordered for the Eagles.
“It was big. It allowed us to break the game open and give us a four-run lead,” Issaquah head coach Rob Reese said. “If we didn’t get that the rest of the game is a little tighter.”
Reese was impressed with the way Ketron commanded the game on the bump after a shaky first inning.
“He has got to throw breaking balls and his changeup. He was sharp with his fastball and was hitting his spots. They weren’t bad pitches but they just kind of roped him. I thought he did a good job of getting out of that inning,” Reese said of the first inning. “He just mowed (dominated) after that and did a great job. He gave us a chance for our hitters to come back and give us the lead.”
