Simonsen, Stapleton propel Lions to 5-3 victory

ton was the starting pitcher for the Lions, and after a rough rst two innings, he settled down and did not allow a hit from innings two through six. Stapleton nished with six strikeouts, ve walks, three hits and gave up three runs.

Simonsen was the driving force behind three of Lynden’s runs. He came up to the plate in the bottom of the second inning with two runners on and sent a high fast ball over the left eld fence. His home run proved to be the turning point in the game for the Lions.

“Kael threw a great game, and we made plays behind him,” Simonsen said. “We just have fun and Kael settled in, so it was just all around a good outing.”

Simonsen homers, Stapleton tosses complete game

Nathan Schumock

Sports Editor LYNDEN — e Lions battled back from an early de cit to outlast Meridian 5-3 on Friday, April 21.

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e Lions improved their winning streak to six games with the win and continue to climb up the Northwest Conference leaderboards. Lynden sits at 13-5 and 10-2 in the NWC, which puts them in sole possession of third place.

Meridian, on the other hand, has hit a rough stretch in the season. ey have lost four out of their last ve games and dropped to 11-6 and 7-5 in the NWC. ey have fallen behind

Blaine in the 1A NWC rankings with the loss.

Meridian head coach Steve Slesk said they have struggled to put the bat on the ball during rough stretch.

“We have not been swinging it great and we have had a couple of tight games that we have lost,” Slesk said. “We need to get back on a roll for sure.” e Lynden heroes of the game were juniors, Kael Stapleton and Lane Simonsen. Staple-

5-3 lead and that was the end of scoring in the game.

Lynden head coach Cory White said they were not ready to play coming into the game, but by the second inning, they settled down.

“At this time of the season and third game of the week, wins our important right now and we just got to keep up and try to keep where we are at in the standings,” White said. e remainder of the game was a pitching duel between Stapleton and Meridian senior Hunter Jones, who replaced the starter, senior Tyrel Brooks, in the third inning. Minimal runners got on base between the third and the seventh inning, as each team played fantastic defense to pair with the pitching. e game quickly came to a close and Lynden held onto the win. e Lions will travel to Oak Harbor on Friday, April 28, for their next game. Meridian will be at Sehome on ursday, April 27 for their next one.

Meridian used up all of their o ense a little too early in this one. In the top of the rst inning, sophomore Jonah Aase came to the plate and pulled a ball over the right eld fence for a home run. e Trojans tacked another run on the board in the second inning on a sacri ce y by senior Ian Forbes. e Trojans held a 3-0 lead that was swiftly erased by Simonsen’s home run in the next half-inning. e Lions added two more runs in the bottom of the second on a single by Stapleton and a sacri ce y by senior Lincoln VanDiest. Lynden had a