CASTLE ROCK — The Chimacum Cowboys must feel at home at the Castle Rock High School diamond.
For the fourth time in five years, Chimacum swept a baseball doubleheader at the Southwest Washington site, beating host Castle Rock 9-0 and Rochester 4-2 on Friday.
The Cowboys are now 8-0 in their home away from home since 2007.
Of course, the first six games were Class 1A state regional contests. On Friday, the Cowboys (2-0 in league, 7-1 overall) were merely tuning up for another such run.
“We just kind of battled through the two games,” said Chimacum coach Jim Dunn, whose team was short-handed due to injuries and eligibility issues.
“It was good to get a contribution from our bench. They played solid and did well in the roles that were given to them, which is nice to see.”
Chimacum’s pitching staff carried more than its share of the load as well.
Starters Landon Cray and Quinn Eldridge surrendered just two earned runs while pitching 10 inning combined.
Reliever Austin McConnell closed the door in each game with a pair of two-inning outings.
Cray went pitch for pitch with Rochester ace Chris Bishop in the second game.
After giving up a run in the top of the first inning, the Chimacum junior sparked a three-run bottom half with a lead-off double.
Devin Manix drove him in with the first of his three singles on the day, then he and Austin McConnell scored on an errant pickoff attempt of Manix at third base.
“[Bishop] was pretty good. He was throwing in the mid 80s [mph] consistently all game,” Dunn said.
“I figured runs were going to be at a minimum, so I tried to squeeze an extra run out there [when the third baseman didn’t hustle to the wild pickoff].”
The gamble more than paid off, as it put the Cowboys ahead 3-1 once McConnell beat the throw to home plate.
That was all Cray (2-1) and company would need.
Cray struck out 11, walked two and gave up just the one run in his five innings on the hill.
McConnell gave up a run in the sixth to allow Rochester to creep within two at 4-2, but he pitched a scoreless seventh to earn his second save of the season.
“Rochester is a good team,” Dunn said. “I would be surprised if they didn’t win their district down there.”
Eldridge (3-0) turned in his own dominant outing on the mound in the opening game against Castle Rock, the same team Chimacum beat 10-0 on its way to a runner-up finish in 1A last spring.
The Cowboys right-hander struck out eight and walked two in five innings of shutout baseball.
Chimacum took advantage of five Castle Rock errors and seven walks to score nine runs in the first six innings.
“We’ve played pretty good defense up ‘til today,” Castle Rock coach Joe Bair told the Longview Daily News. “Part of that has to do with you have to give Chimacum credit.
“They hit the ball hard the whole time.”
Lucas Dukek smacked his third home run of the season to lead the Cowboy bats, while Cray was 1-for-3 with a double and three runs scored.
Chimacum will have most of next week off before playing at Sequim next Thursday.
Chimacum 9, Castle Rock 0
Chimacum 2 0 1 0 2 3 1 — 9 5 1
Castle Rock 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 4 5
WP- Eldridge (3-0); LP- Sullivan
Pitching Statistics
Chimacum: Eldridge 5IP, 8K, 2BB, 4H, 0ER; McConnell 2IP, 5K, BB.
Castle Rock: Sullivan 4.2IP.
Hitting Statistics
Chimacum: Cray 1-3 (2B, 3R), Dukek 1-4 (HR), Brown-Bishop 1-2 (2B, RBI).
Chimacum 4, Rochester 2
Rochester 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 2 4 2
Chimacum 3 0 0 0 1 0 X — 4 6 1
WP- Cray (2-1); LP- Bishop; S- McConnell (2)
Pitching Statistics
Chimacum: Cray 5IP, 11K, 2BB, H, ER; McConnell 2IP, 3K, 3H, 0BB, ER.
Castle Rock: Bishop 6IP, 8K, 2BB, 6H, 4R, 2ER.
Hitting Statistics
Chimacum: Cray 1-3 (2B, R), Manix 3-3 (2R), Eldridge 1-2 (2B).
Games postponed
A handful of area teams decided it was best to stay dry than endure Friday’s deluge on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Heavy rains led to the cancellation or postponement of a handful of games.
Among those called off were the North Mason-Port Angeles girls tennis match, Port Townsend-Chimacum softball game and Saturday’s Port Angeles-Tenino baseball game.
