Edmonds baseball beats Bellevue twice to earn home sweep

LYNNWOOD -- Solid pitching set the tone and the team's quality plate approaches helped Edmonds sweep Bellevue at Triton Field on Saturday by the identical scores of 6-1.

Game 1: Will Franklin spun seven innings allowing no earned runs in the opener. Franklin was aided by a great defensive relay in the top of the first which gave Edmonds momentum. Bellevue's Brandon McKinley scorched a double to the right field corner with two outs, but Chanz Doughty relayed the ball in to Luke Murawski, who quickly turned and got the ball into catcher Blake Conrad to nail Bryan Sfanos at the dish, dismissing the scoring opportunity. Cole Murawski's triple started the bottom of the first, and after two outs, Luke Murawski plated him with a single up the middle to get the Tritons on the board first. In the fourth, Chris Rogers plated two with a double to the gap, extending the lead to 4-0. Logan Blank added an RBI groundout and Chanz Doughty scored on a wild pitch in the fifth to pad the advantage. Blake Conrad was 2-for-4 and Cole Watterson did a nice job of turning the lineup over from the nine-hole with a 2-for-3 performance. Watterson scored two runs and notched a stolen base. Lathan Haywood fired two scoreless innings to finish off the win. 

Game 2: Dylan Richardson got the nod in game two and produced in his first start of the season. The freshman right-hander went 5 1/3 innings surrendering just one run, scattering three hits, and fanning three. He handed it over to Matt Capel who hurled 3 2/3 frames of no-hit ball. A five-run second inning started with Chanz Doughty's solo blast to the left-center gap. Levi Joyce, who provided a spark in both games, singled home two runs, and the Murawski brothers were each credited with RBIs in the inning. Cole Murawski picked up his second RBI and insurance run for the Tritons in the bottom of the eighth. Logan Blank was 3-for-3 and scored twice. Bellevue (9-16-1, 2-4) wasn't able to get any offensive momentum going on the day and could only muster three hits in the nightcap.

Edmonds (11-9) improved to 3-1 in the North. They'll hit the road for their next three series: at Everett April 6, at Shoreline April 7, and at Skagit April 13.