The Thomas Jefferson baseball team remained in second place in the South Puget Sound League North Division with a pair of victories over Kentwood and Kent-Meridian.

The Raiders sit 3-1 in the North and 7-3 overall. Kentlake remains unbeaten and handed TJ their only league loss March 25, 3-2.

Pitching was again the key for the Raiders against Kentwood and Kent-Meridian. Jefferson downed Kentwood, 3-1, on Monday behind the pitching of senior Taylor Stark and Andrew Jones threw a five-inning one-hitter during a 10-0 win over Kent-Meridian Tuesday.

Kentwood tallied a run in the second inning and Jefferson tied the score in the fifth with a Jarett Hardy two-out single, scoring Spencer LeCompte. The Raiders then scored two more runs in the top of the seventh. Michael Sigafoos led off with a single, followed by a Derek Voigt walk. Kylle Ashton then singled to score Sigafoos and then Jones connected on a pinch-hit double over the left fielder’s head to score TJ’s third run.

Stark struck out seven, walked two and gave up just five hits in six innings of work. Voigt earned the save by throwing the seventh inning.

Against Kent-Meridian, Jones threw all five innings and was also 1-for-2 with two runs, two RBIs and a home run. Davis ended up 2-for-3 with two runs.

The Decatur Gators (1-3 in North) split a pair of games with Kentwood and Kentridge. The Gators lost a heart-breaker to Kentridge on Monday, 2-1, and beat up Kentwood Tuesday, 10-4.

Against Kentridge, the Gators couldn’t get any offense going against Danny White. Decatur had only four hits. Decatur pitchers Alex Bailey and Justin Reed gave up only six hits. Bailey also had the Gators’ only RBI.

Against Kentwood, the Gators got a three-run home run from Justin McDonald in the third inning to take a 7-3 lead. Reed picked up the win on the mound and Kyle Font finished 3-for-4 with three runs.

Soccer

The Decatur Gators handed Jefferson their first loss of the SPSL North season Monday night, 2-1. Austin Nuss broke a 1-1 tie in the 79th minute of the game to give Decatur (2-3-1) the win. The Gators’ other goal came from Kevin Day in the 17th minute. Jefferson’s (3-1-1) goal was scored by Ernan Roman in the sixth minute.

Defending SPSL North champion Federal Way picked up their first league win Wednesday over Decatur, 3-1. Federal Way’s (1-3-2) Andrew Hair scored two goals and had an assist. Tommy Osborn scored the Eagles’ other goal. Ata Soltanizad tallied Decatur’s lone goal.

Beamer moved to 3-2-0 with a pair of wins Monday and Wednesday by a combined score of 14-1, which included two hat tricks by senior Daniel Nam.

The Titans beat Spanaway Lake, 8-0, Monday thanks to three goals from Nam and two goals each by Jordan Hale and Troy Peterson. Beamer then beat Graham-Kapowsin Wednesday, 6-1, with three goals from Nam.

Softball

The Thomas Jefferson offense had a pretty good day on Tuesday. The Raiders (2-2 in North) scored 36 runs in 10 innings and banged out 37 hits. Jefferson beat Kent-Meridian, 24-0, in five innings and downed Decatur, 12-0, in five innings in a double header.

Jessica Dickson picked up the wins in both games. Against Kent-Meridian, Rebecca Gasca finished 4-for-5 with three runs and a triple and Lauren Start was 3-for-5 with four runs. Sara Byrne, Jayme Carbon and Shawntay Thong were all 2-for-3 against Decatur.

Sports editor Casey Olson: 925-5565, sports@fedwaymirror.com