Auburn Riverside baseball loses in extra innings to Kennedy Catholic

When Kaeden Morgan takes the mound, Auburn Riverside skipper Brad Comstock knows his squad is going to be in the game no matter what.

“He’s a special kid. He grinds. I’ve never seen a kid work so hard on his off days. He knows when his bullpens are and when to work on his drills. He gives you a chance to win every time he goes out there,” Comstock said.

The lanky left-hander dazzled once more this season, but the offense couldn’t generate enough as the Ravens were swept aside by the Kennedy Catholic Lancers, 3-2, in extra innings on April 16.

Morgan pitched seven of the eight innings on a brisk Wednesday night and had the Kennedy lineup off-balance all game. He struck out just five Lancers, walked one and scattered seven hits across his seven innings of work. All seven of the hits were singles against Morgan.

“The mentality was just keep us in the game. What we really talked about the last couple of weeks is just trying to gain momentum. That was my approach today,” Morgan said.

Pitching deep into games has become the norm for Morgan this season. In five starts this season, the southpaw has tossed at least six innings in four starts, including an eight-inning complete game against Auburn on April 7.

“I take a lot of pride in being the work horse. I think it just goes back to offseason training, pushing the extra mile so that I can go deep into games throwing 100-105 pitches,” Morgan said.

Morgan went toe-to-toe with Kennedy starter and fellow lefty Harvey Liebermann in game two of the series. Liebermann is a Washington State University commit as a junior. Morgan, also a junior, finds another gear when he is paired up with a Division One commit.

“He’s (Liebermann) a great arm. I was kind of pushing myself to get to that level. Obviously that’s where I want to be. It was a fun game. I want it every time,” Morgan said.

The first run of the game came in the first inning on a throwing error on a stolen base after two one-out singles for the Lancers. Auburn Riverside immediately responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the first. Andre Muneton hit a two out double and was followed up by a Cameron Bain single, scoring Muneton.

The double was one of three hits for Muneton in the game and he reached base in all four of his at-bats. This season Muneton is batting .353 and has a 1.022 OPS for the Ravens.

“We need him. He’s our shortstop and our three hitter. He’s really important. He knows that. He’s really happy to be that guy this year. He is taking advantage his opportunities,” Comstock said.

After the first, both pitchers threw up zeros for the next four innings until the Lancers tacked on a run in the sixth after the leadoff batter reached on an error and came around to score on a single with one out. But just like in the first inning, the Ravens responded.

Muneton once again got it started with a hit as the Ravens would load the bases with one out. Dane Tomlinson snuck a ball through the left side of the infield, allowing Muneton to score from third. The Ravens would then leave the bases loaded in the sixth.

“We are learning to compete. These guys are trusting what I am trying to teach, it is working. But we just have to see if we have long enough to make a difference. The high school season is short,” Comstock said.

In the eighth, Owen Johnson took over for Morgan and was tasked with keeping a clean sheet for the Ravens. After Ka’ipo Masushima reached on a two-base error, he stole third and forced Johnson to get three outs with the go-ahead run on third.

Johnson recorded two outs before throwing a pitch that got passed Alex Toth and got all the way to the backstop, scoring Masushima.

The Ravens were sat down in order in the top of the seventh by University of Washington commit Will Cahill. But the eighth was a different story as his command went by the wayside.

Cahill used just nine pitches in the seventh, and in the eighth he threw 28 pitches. Muneton led off with a walk, and Bain followed suit. Toth bunted after being up in the count 3-0, but the bunt went right back to Cahill, and he threw it to third base to minimize the threat. Tomlinson popped out on two pitches, and Caleb Anardi walked to load the bases.

That brought Yakima Valley College commit Ethan Melius to the plate with an opportunity to win the game. Melius struck out on a 2-2 fastball from Cahill to end it. Cahill threw just nine strikes in the eighth.

As far as the 4A NPSL goes, the Ravens are right in the thick of the standings at 4-4 in the league and 7-5 overall. The playoffs are a realistic outcome for this group. Comstock is just waiting for a couple of big hits in clutch moments to generate some momentum.

“Just need a clutch hit. We had our guy at the plate. Ethan is a college baseball player. He’s struggling a little bit lately, but we have all the confidence in the world in him. But jeez, bases loaded, that’s the stuff you dream of,” Comstock said.