Monday was senior day for the Bearcats and two seniors reached career milestones while the other threw the final inning of the game, a 25-3 win over Cossatot River.
Both milestones were reached in the first inning. First it was Dax Goff drilling the 20th home run of his career, a two-run shot to center that chased Rhett Nietert around the bases – Nietert had been hit by a pitch for the first of three times.
The home run was Goff’s, at the time, team leading fifth of this season.
Goff was aboard with his second hit of the inning with just one out and the Bearcats already leading 9-0 when Rylen Ray was at the plate for the second time in the inning.
Ray delivered his fifth home run as well, scoring three and giving him 100 career RBIs, despite missing a big portion of last season. Ray (shown) leads the Bearcats with 32 RBIs this season.
Ray’s home run made it 12-0, but that would be only one of two innings in which the Bearcats scored 10 or more runs.
Ray singled home two in the 10-run bottom of the fourth that saw the lead climb from 15-3 to 25-3.
Following that long inning, Matt O’Bar went to the mound and hit a batter, allowed a base hit, and had an error committed behind him to load the bases.
Unfazed, O'Bar stranded all three with a strikeout, an infield fly and a ground ball fielder’s choice.
The strikeout victim had hit a solo home run in the first off of Dylan Todd (2-1) and also doubled in a run in the third.
Todd was 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI.
Jace Washburn also drove in three with a pair of hits and a total of 13 Bearcats had an RBI including Parker Smith who had two, and Jeremiah Shaw, Caysen Lewis, Xander Miller, Brody Chambers, Sonny Whitaker, Casey Carter, Tayden Washburn, and Conner Lentz, who all had one apiece.
Going into the game the Bearcats were already assured of the top seed in next week’s district tournament but the win clinches an outright 3A-4 title with only Subiaco remaining on the schedule. That game is set for 4 p.m. today.
