Todd Beamer turned a trip to a professional ballpark into a big win as they took down the Auburn Trojans 11-2 on Saturday at Cheney Stadium.
The Titans wasted no time getting on the board.
Jayshawn Ware walked to start the bottom of the first, and Calvin Hedges quickly moved him up to second base with a single.
Two batters later, Brycen Allen brought both of them home with single to center field that put Beamer up 2-0.
They didn’t slow down in the bottom of the second inning, adding four more runs.
Tommy Davis and Cameron Naden singled to open the inning. Naden and courtesy runner Juan Hernandez moved to second and third on a balk by Auburn pitcher Zack Redelf.
An error by the Auburn’s Xavier West allowed Jacob Barden to reach first base. Hernandez scored on the play. Naden later scored on a sacrifice fly by Hedges.
JJ Asinas’ single in the inning drove home another run, and Asinas himself scored from first after Jared Thompson crushed a ball over 400 feet to center field for a double.
Beamer loaded the bases with the next two batters but was unable to bring anyone else home as Davis struck out swinging in his second at bat of the inning.
The Titans added one more run in the bottom of the third inning to bring the lead to 7-0.
On the mound, Beamer pitcher Ethan Phelps was dominant. He gave up no hits, three walks and struck out five in three innings of work.
“It was good to see Phelps come back and be more consistent,” first-year Beamer head coach Shane Elliot said. “He had some issues walking guys earlier. He figured it out and he dominated. It was really good to see from a senior and, moving forward, a guy that’s going to be in our rotation.”
With the game well in hand, the Titans began to make heavy subs to get into the game the plethora of JV players they brought along.
“JV guys and younger guys got a chance today and played the part,” Elliot said “They fit in against that varsity pitcher at the end. They weren’t out there watching pitches. They came in and were taking hacks.”
Auburn finally got on the board in the fifth inning.
The first batter of the inning was hit by a pitch and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt. West struck out swinging, but the third batter of the inning, Shiina Adachi, was walked, putting runners on first and second.
Dillon O’Grady came through for the Trojans with a double that was lined into the left-center field gap, scoring both runners and cutting the lead to 8-2.
Beamer’s Jordan Taylor added two RBIs in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Titan’s expanded their lead to 11-2.
“You can’t ask for anything better,” Elliot said. “Safeco Field is number one and Cheney Stadium is number two. It’s a great experience for the kids to come out and see what it’s like to be at a big league park.”
The win brought the Titans back to .500 on the season with a 4-4 (0-0 in league play) record as they head into league play. They have a three-game series scheduled against Thomas Jefferson (5-3, 3-0) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The Raiders swept Decatur in a three-game series last week.
“We’ve got a good match up,” said Elliot. “TJ’s got a good coach. Coach Townsend is a good guy and I know a lot of their players over there. It’s gonna be a competitive series, but I expect that we take two out of three against TJ.”
Jefferson took the first game of the series 7-4 on Tuesday, while Beamer responded with a 7-2 win of their own on Wednesday to even the series. The rubber match is scheduled for today at 4 p.m. at Thomas Jefferson High School.
