Prep highlights: Columbia River, Kelso baseball open league play with victories – The Columbian

By the time the season is over, the four baseball teams in the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League will have faced each other three times.

Baseball purists probably hope there will be some closer games than the first ones.

Columbia River scored 10 runs in the second inning and rolled to a 13-1 win over Prairie in a game shortened to five innings.

Kelso, meanwhile, topped Fort Vancouver 23-1.

At Columbia River, the Cheiftains already had two runs in and two runners on before they got their first hit of the game.

Koben Jamison then blasted a double to right-center field, driving in another run, and the Chieftains were on their way.

Jamison could see his shot heading toward the gap.

“It’s a good feeling,” he said. “It lets you know you did something right.”

Nine Chieftains ended up with at least one hit. Taylor Easterly struck out eight in his five-inning complete game.

“We would expect this every game. That’s our mentality. We want to play ball like we can play ball,” Jamison said. “But this is not going to happen every game, that’s for sure. We’re going to have to work for it.”

Stars of the day

• Trevor Wharton, Heritage baseball, threw a complete-game three-hitter with eight strikeouts in a 7-1 win over Evergreen. Also went 2-for-3 with a triple.

• Teaghan Cowles, Columbia River softball, went 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, a double and a stolen base in a 8-1 win over Heritage.

• Aylexie Pedigo, Skyview girls golf, shot a low round of 44 at Tri-Mountain in Skyview’s match against Evergreen.

• Tucker Parker, Camas baseball, threw a complete game, scattering eight hits and striking out seven in a 2-1 win over Union.

• Taylor Bircham, Camas baseball, went 2-for-3, including the game-tying single as Camas scored twice in the sixth to beat Union 2-1.

• Liam Nabors, King’s Way Christian baseball, went 3-for-4 with a run and four RBIs in the Knights’ 13-1 win over Columbia White Salmon.

• Alli Bailey, Evergreen softball, tied the game with a two-run double and scored the winning run in a 10-9 victory over Mark Morris.

• Sarah Jenkins, Ridgefield softball, struck out 12 over seven innings in a 3-1 win over Castle Rock.

• Isaiah Smith, Battle Ground baseball, went 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI in a 4-2 win over Skyview.

• Mikki Sanchez, Fort Vancouver softball, went 3 for 4, with two doubles, and drove in six runs in a win over Bay.

• Christian Thyron and Joel Aguilar, Prairie soccer: Each scored two goals and each assisted on their two goals.

• Brian Murray, Camas soccer, got the shutout as the goalkeeper and also got an assist in a win over Mountain View.