CHIMACUM — Cascade Christian has got to be getting sick of seeing Landon Cray.
For the fifth time in two years, the Chimacum left-hander took the hill against the Cougars.
And for the fifth straight time, he came out the winner.
Cray gave up just one run in five innings pitched and smashed a two-run homer to lead Chimacum to an 8-1 victory over the Cougars on a chilly, gray Monday afternoon.
“Anytime anybody faces Landon Cray on the mound, you’re in for a full day’s work,” Cascade Christian coach Paul Sopak said.
He’s just an all-around great athlete.”
Considered to be Chimacum’s greatest roadblock to a third straight Class 1A Nisqually League title, Cascade Christian turned out to be just another bump in the road Monday.
The top-ranked Cowboys (9-0 in league, 15-1 overall) took advantage of five Cougars errors to run away with their 14th straight win and move within a victory of claiming another outright league crown.
Cray faced the minimum number of batters through four innings, before eventually finishing with eight strikeouts, two walks, two hits and one run in five innings for the win.
“Every year, I pitch both games [against Cascade Christian],” Cray said. “I always see these guys, so it’s a lot fun.
“I felt good for the most part. It wasn’t my best outing, but my team is putting together some hits now. We’re heating up. It’s really good to see.”
Leadoff triple
Cray’s leadoff triple in the bottom of the first inning led to Chimacum’s first run of the game after Devin Manix brought him in with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Chimacum added another run off Cougars starter Stephen Mahnken in the first after Austin McConnell reached on an error and Dylan Brown-Bishop drove him in with a single two batters later.
That was the first of four unearned runs given up by Cascade Christian in the first four innings as Chimacum took a 6-0 lead.
The Cowboys were error free on the game.
“You still got to show up, you still got to play and you still have to execute,” Chimacum coach Jim Dunn said of his team, ranked No. 1 in all of 1A for the fifth straight week.
“It was just a matter of us being prepared and they weren’t prepared.
“I think they are a better team than what they played today. We just made the plays [in the field], and they didn’t.”
Cray added two more runs in the fifth with his blast to right center field off Cougars reliever Jacob Kushan.
He finished 2-for-4 on the day with two runs scored and two RBIs.
His line-drive shot in the fifth was his eighth homer of the season, furthering his single-season school record.
“I’m not really expecting [all of these home runs],” said Cray, who’s received interest from Pac-10 schools Oregon and Oregon State.
“I just go up there to hit, and they are going. I don’t know. I just try to hit the ball hard.
“I knew a fastball was coming [against Kushan], so I just geared up on that.”
The Cowboys finished the game with 11 hits off Cougar pitching.
That included a 4-for-4 day from second baseman Mike Nordberg, who also had three stolen bases and two runs scored.
Brown-Bishop was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Quinn Eldridge pitched two perfect innings in relief, notching two strikeouts.
“Our defense is solid, our offense is coming along and our pitching has just carried us the whole year,” Dunn said.
“Hitting comes and goes, but defense and pitching is pretty well established.
“With hitting, you go through lulls, and so far we haven’t gone through lulls with pitching and defense.”
Added Cray, “It’s easy just to go out there and have these guys behind me.”
The Cowboys will look to clinch their fifth league title in six years when last-place Life Christian comes to town Wednesday for a doubleheader.
That would give them the West Central District’s top seed and a home game in the first round of the 1A Tri-District tournament.
“Chimacum is just an all-around good team,” Sopak said. “They’ve got guys that love to play baseball and they come out and play as a team.
“They have fun, and they win a lot of games doing that, taking that approach.
“Every year they are up there as a final four contender [at state]. That’s our goal every year is to try and beat Chimacum and also to join them in the state playoffs somewhere.
“I’m hoping that we’ll see them somewhere in the state tournament this year and be able to face Landon again.”
Be careful what you wish for.
Chimacum 8, Cascade Christian 1
Cas. Christian 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 1 2 5
Chimacum 2 2 0 2 2 0 X — 8 11 0
WP- Cray (5-1); LP- Mahnken
Pitching Statistics
Cascade Christian: Mahnken 3IP, 6H, 2BB, 2ER, 4R, 3K; Kushan 2IP, 3H, BB, 2ER, 4R, 2K; Stevenson IP, 2H, K 0R.
Chimacum: Cray 5IP, 2H, 2BB, ER, 8K; Eldridge 2IP, 2K, 0R.
Hitting Statistics
Cascade Christian: Stennes 1-3; Kushan 1-3.
Chimacum: Cray 2-4 (3B, HR, 2R, 2RBI); Dukek 1-3 (BB, RBI, R); Brown-Bishop 3-4 (2RBI); Nordberg 4-4 (3SB, 2R).
