The Battle Ground baseball team put together its top performance of the season at a time when the Tigers really needed it.
That assessment, in the eyes of Battle Ground coach Seth Johnson, came after the Tigers took down Skyview 4-0 in the rubber match of a three-game series Thursday, moving them into a tie for second place in the 4A Greater. St. Helens League standings ahead of next week’s series against league leader Union, which took two of three against Camas.
After an up and down two weeks in the 4A GSHL, Battle Ground (8-7, 3-3) was at its best with ace pitcher James Gill on the mound Thursday, limiting Skyview to four hits with eight strikeouts and no walks over seven scoreless innings. Jayden Sivits drove in three of the Tigers’ four runs and Gill went 3-for-3 — all doubles — with an RBI.
“Not even close, our most complete game,” Johnson said. “We pitched it well (and) we discussed it with the coaches — we didn’t have a single mental mistake. Usually you have two or three, and those are learning experiences, but that was our most complete game, for sure.”
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A fast start in the top of the first inning showed Battle Ground meant business. Leadoff hitter Cooper McGowan got behind in the count against Skyview pitcher Dylan Goetz, but the sophomore battled back to slash a double and score on a Gill extra-base hit.
“It really broke us open, and we started getting more runs after that,” Sivits said.
Sivits added an RBI single to spot Gill, the reigning 4A GSHL player of the year, a two-run lead before taking the mound. The junior lefty, a Washington commit, needed just 74 pitches over seven innings, 59 of which were called strikes.
“Mind free, and just throw strikes,” Gill said of his mindset. “If they’re not going to touch my fastball, I just keep (throwing) middle and just go.”
Also key for the Tigers was their energy in the dugout, a palpably louder chorus of voices compared to earlier in the season. An eye-opening moment, according to Sivits, came after the Tigers gave up a multi-run lead to Ridgefield and suffered a 5-3 loss in March.
“Ridgefield was rough,” Sivits said, “and ever since then … we’ve been loud in the dugout.”
Battle Ground sat in last place of the league standings after losing two of three against Camas and dropping Monday’s series opener against the Storm (7-9, 2-4). But two wins later, the Tigers have put themselves in contention for the 4A GSHL title and a second straight postseason berth.
“Going 1-2 against Camas and then 2-1 against (Skyview), it’s pretty big to get us back to that playoff position,” Gill said.
“This week we kind of just woke up, practiced hard and now we’re ready.”
Game one of the series against Union is slated for 4:30 p.m. Monday on the Titans’ home turf.
“It’s one game at a time,” Johnson said. “You can’t worry about the series, you just got to worry about Monday’s game, and that Monday game is a big game. (We’ll) treat it like a playoff game.”
BATTLE GROUND 4, SKYVIEW 0
Ba. Ground 201 010 0—4 7 1
Skyview 000 000 0—0 4 0
Battle Ground
Pitching — James Gill III 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 8 K, 0 BB, win. Highlights — Cooper McGowan 1-4, run; James Gill III 3-3, run, 3 2B, RBI; Jayden Sivits 3-3, 2B, 3 RBI.
Skyview
Pitching — Dylan Goetz 7 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 4 K, 0 BB, loss. Highlights — Dylan Goetz 1-3, 2B; Kyle Harker 1-3; Jack Morey 2-2.
