TACOMA — Landon Cray did a little of everything to help Chimacum beat Cascade Christian in a crucial Nisqually League game Thursday at Tacoma Community College.
Cray went the distance on the mound, striking out eight and giving up just two hits, and he had an RBI as the Cowboys won 3-2 with two runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Chimacum, trailing 2-1 going into the seventh inning, scored two go-ahead runs on Austin McConnell’s two-out double in the seventh.
“”They’re a solid team,” Chimacum coach Loren Bishop said about Cascade Christian.
“That’s a big win for us on the road.”
It was the Cowboys’ first road game after having several others rained out.
Despite a rainy and stormy day around the Puget Sound on Thursday, the game was played after a delay as everyone worked hard getting the field dry.
It was a pitchers’ duel most of the game but the Cowboys went ahead 1-0 in the fifth inning.
Cascade Christian scored two in the bottom of the fifth to take the 2-1 lead.
Cray (2-0) gave up no earned runs while walking three. He struck out three of the four batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the victory.
Cascade ace Jordan Zeternick struck out nine while giving up seven hits in seven innings.
“He’s one of the better pitchers we will face this year,” Bishop said.
Cray also went 2-for-4 with an RBI while McConnell was 1-of-4 with the two-RBI double.
Weather permitting, the Cowboys will play a nonleague doubleheader at Castle Rock today.
Chimacum 3, Cascade Christian 2
Chimacum 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 – 3 7 1
C. Christian 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 — 2 2 2
WP- Landon Cray (2-0); LP- Jordan Zeternick.
Pitching Statistics
Chimacum: Cray, 7 IP, 8 K, 3 BB, 0 ER, 2 hits.
Zeternick: 7 IP, 9 K, 7 hits.
Hitting Statistics
Chimacum: Cray 2-4, RBI; Austin McConnell 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI.
