Ferndale pitcher Geirean Hatchett delivers to the plate vs. Lynden
Christian. The junior recorded 11 strikeouts in the 8-0 home victory
File Photo: Doug Lange
Hatchett Fans 11 as Ferndale Blanks Lynden Christian
April 10, 2019
Ferndale rode the arm of Geirean Hatchett to a shutout victory over Lynden Christian Tuesday. The lefty struck out 11 batters to lead the Golden Eagles to an 8-0 Northwest Conference win at home.
After giving up a lead-off walk to Brevin Zylstra to start the game, Hatchett responded by striking out the 8 of the next 9 batters including six straight in the first and second innings. The junior gave up just 1 hit and walked only two batters to improve his record to 3-0 on the year.
"I felt really good out there. I was hitting most of my spots that I wanted to hit and all that," said Hatchett. "Just pounding the zone and it felt really good to get those first six strikeouts going."
Ferndale (8-4/4-2 NWC) got on the board in the bottom of the first inning striking for 3 runs. Aidan Roddel picked up the first of his two RBI's on a sac-fly. Two batters later Ryan Whipkey's single drove in 2 more runs. The Golden Eagles, who totaled 7 hits and 8 base on balls, would add 1 run each inning the rest of the way.
Whipkey ended up with 3 RBI's on the day. Michael Bernard went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI's, 2 stolen bases and 1 run scored. Greg Roberts added a 2-for-3 performance at the plate with a walk while Carson Peters and Bryan Ebe each scored 2 runs at the top of the order.
MORE: Listen/download the Ferndale/Lynden Christian game broadcast
Jake Terpstra suffered the loss on the mound for Lynden Christian (4-9/1-5 NWC). The junior allowed 6 runs on 4 hits and 6 walks in three innings of work.
Hatchett upped his league leading strikeout total to 43 on the season, impressing his coach Donny Hennigs in the process.
"Geriean's been getting better every single start," said Hennigs. "We're starting to see what he's capable of doing when he's around the strike zone and now his secondary pitch is coming around. He was really good today."
Both teams are back in action Wednesday with NWC games scheduled for 4:00pm first pitches. Ferndale visits Meridian at 4:00pm. Lynden Christian will look to snap their 6-game losing streak when they host Bellingham at 4:30pm
- Doug Lange
