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Northwood players before Monday’s tournament game at the Great Park Stadium. (PHOTO: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Northwood High School’s baseball team continued to struggle Monday, losing to Woods Cross of Utah 7-1 in the Ryan Lemmon Invitational at the Great Park Stadium.
Northwood (4-10-1) has lost six in a row, including the first two games of the Ryan Lemmon tourney.
“Tough is the word, just fighting it right now,” said first-year Northwood Coach Ben Owens after the game. “We’re trying to figure our way out, we’re not getting the clutch hits when we need them. It’s starting to kind of wear on us a little bit.
“We just need to relax and get back to work and hopefully some things fall for us and we feel better about ourselves. We will get back to work, we will be fine. We’ve had to play perfect defense because our offense hasn’t been picking us up.”
Woods Cross (4-4) broke the game open early Monday with five runs in the first inning. Max Moffat had an RBI triple, Stetson Critchley had an RBI single and Thomas Pattison drove home two with a single. One run scored on an infield error, which allowed three unearned runs to score off starting pitcher Garret Stevenson.
Woods Cross added two more runs in the fourth inning. Moffat had an RBI triple and Critchley an RBI single.
Northwood cut the lead to 7-1 with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ethan Tsou walked and came around to score on a wild pitch but the Timberwolves weren’t able to cut further into the lead.
Diego Torres led Northwood offensively going 2 for 3 with a double. The Timberwolves were held to four hits by Woods Cross pitchers, including starter Paxton Healy, who pitched the first four innings. Moffat came on in relief in the fifth and Beckham Stanger in the seventh.
Owens is hoping his team can finish the tournament strong. The Timberwolves meet Salem, Utah, Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the Great Park field 8 with another game Wednesday against an opponent to be determined.
“Six in a row and I think the kids are wearing it just as much as I am,” Owens said. “We just need to get one and then hopefully we go on a little bit of a run on the back half and feel good about ourselves.”
Northwood, 1-4 in the Pacific Coast League, will also need a strong league finish to reach the CIF playoffs. Northwood is the defending PCL champion.
“We probably have to win six of eight would be my guess to get us in,” Owens said. “I think we’re close, we’re right there, we just need to believe we’re right there.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com