What started as a rather gloomy day in Springfield, Ore., turned sunny as the Bushnell Beacons continued their series against the Warner Pacific Knights, which began on Friday, the 20th. Now back for another doubleheader on Saturday, the 21st, the Beacons had an incredible first game; they took the win 21-1. They added a phenomenal second game, winning 16-3 to take the series.
The first game of this doubleheader started with a bang, getting a homer from Dylan Carson, enabling Nate Stevens to score, ending the first inning with the Beacons leading the game 2-0. The Beacons put pressure on the Knights going into the second inning, not even letting the Knights get on first.
It was a massive third inning for both teams. The Knights did not let the Beacons keep them down for long, starting the third inning with a homer to left field from Trenten Lowe, going a whopping 430 feet. But then Carson hit another homer with the bases loaded, his second of the game, with the bases loaded, giving the Beacons a major 5-1 lead. The fourth inning was impressive for the Beacons, getting back-to-back two-RBI knocks from Jaden Thomson and Albert Jennings, ending the fourth 9-1.
The fifth inning was explosive for the Beacons. Kai Keamo had three strikeouts in a row in the top of the fifth. Then, in the bottom of the fifth, the bases were loaded twice in a row, getting one run by Eli Pupo before Stevens doubled down the right field line for two more RBIs to make it 12-1. Amazingly, Carson smacked his third home run of the game with three runners on base to extend the lead to 16-1 as the Beacons added run after run. The bases were loaded three separate times by the Beacons in just the fifth inning alone. Mana Heffernan got a run, followed by two RBIs from Caleb Richter. The Knights finally ended the nightmare fifth inning, getting out Broderick Buhr as the Beacons still held a massive lead, 19-1.
It was a colossal game for Bushnell’s Dylan Carson, who got his fourth home run to left field to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Carson was the MVP of the game, with all of these home runs accounting for most of the points that were scored; he was on fire. The Beacons ended the first game with some amazing plays and took the win 21-1.
Both teams had a slow start in the second game compared to the first one. The Knights were able to get the first score on the board with Connor Hale singling up the middle, enabling Hank Kern to score. Danny Womack scored right after for Bushnell, ending the first inning tied 1-1. The Beacons get two more runs in the bottom of the second inning, taking the lead with 3-1. Then, the all-star of the day, Carson, hit his fifth home run, the first of the second game, allowing him and Jennings to score, ending the second inning with a bang, 5-1.
The Knights started the third inning with a home run from Kern, getting some more points on the board to make it 5-2. A mistake from Bushnell's catcher caused the Knights to steal home and make it a tighter game, 5-3, ending the top of the third. The Beacons weren’t gonna let the Knights catch up too much with Nigel Fahland hitting a three-run home run, making that the sixth home run for the Beacons on Saturday. Ending the third inning, the Beacons were leading 8-3.
It was a quiet fourth inning for the Knights, with three strikeouts in a row. But not for the Beacons, who hit their seventh home run of the day, the third of the game, from Josh Miyazawa to make it 12-3 and continue their trend of scoring each inning. Bushnell put two more runs on the board and ended the fifth inning 14-3.
The last two innings of this game were quick and simple compared to the others. The Beacons got two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, ending the inning 16-3. With no more runs scored, the Beacons took the win 16-3.
It was two astonishing games of baseball on Saturday from Bushnell, with seven home runs on the day and winning both games. The Beacons play again on Friday, Feb. 27th.