KWC ace silences Elma bats

CASTLE ROCK — Elma hitters struck out 18 times against hard-throwing King’s Way Christian pitcher Sam Lauderdale en route to an 8-1 first-round playoff loss at Castle Rock High School on May 7.

King’s Way Christian (14-6 overall) held a 6-0 lead after three innings and tacked on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Brady Shriver took the loss for Elma (5-14), striking out one with five walks.

Eagles freshman Cobey Moore relieved Shriver and allowed two runs over his three innings pitched.

“I thought he came in and did a greaat job for us,” Elma head coach Jim Hill said of Moore before offering his thoughts on facing an ace with a 90-plus fastball in Lauderdale. “We faced a guy that was really good.”

Elma 000 001 0 — 1 3 2

King’s Way Christian 213 200 0 — 8 10 0

WP — Lauderdale (6 IP, 2 BB, 18 K); LP — Shriver (K, 2 BB)

Leading Hitters: E — Richardson (3B), Moore (1B), Robinson (1B)

Elma was looking for some consistency heading into districts after making a number of errors in a 12-5 loss to Tenino on May 2.

Elma was well within striking distance with the Beavers holding on to a 6-5 lead heading into the sixth inning, but some defensive miscues let Tenino blow the game open with six runs in the sixth.

Elma head coach Jim Hill was disappointed his team couldn’t take advantage of a strong start by Carter Jacobson.

“Carter Jacobson threw a game that we should have 5-0,” he said. “We made too many mistakes behind him and it’s time to look in the mirror.”

Elma 030 011 0 – 5 9 8

Tenino 041 106 x– 12 12 2

WP: Perez (2 K, 2 BB); LP: Jacobson (4 K, 2 BB)

Leading Hitters: E — Rustemyer (2 H) Richards (2 H, 2 2B) Shriver (2 H)