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Matt Wallis

MOUNT VERNON — As the Northwest 3A District Tournament goes on, Shorecrest’s pitching keeps getting better.

Willie Davies came two outs away from a no-hitter, but had to settle for a one-hitter and a 6-0 victory over Mount Vernon on Wednesday, ending the Bulldogs season and moving Shorecrest within two wins of a state berth.

“It was a little disappointing, but overall the team won, and that’s all that matters right now,” Davies said of losing the no-hit bid. “It’s definitely a team thing. We’re coming up with key hits, pitching’s doing really well now and especially our defense.”

Corey Hughes broke up Davies’ no-hitter with a clean single between short and third in the seventh, the Bulldogs’ first hit since another Hughes single in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to Meadowdale. Mount Vernon didn’t score in its final 17 innings of the season.

“The kid threw a really good game, kept us off balance,” Mount Vernon coach Danny Costa said. “We hit a few balls hard, but didn’t find any holes. They had a few bloop hits that inning (Shorecrest’s five-run fourth) and their big guys came through. You’ve got to give them credit.”

Davies played a big part in the last seven innings of the scoreless streak. The Scots’ senior got ahead in the count against almost every batter and, despite walking two, needed just 65 pitches for the complete game. He threw fewer than 10 pitches in four of the seven innings.

“I would say that’s the gutsiest, toughest performance by that kid in his whole career,” Shorecrest coach Alan Bruns said. “He just stepped up and carried the team today. There was no beating him today.”

Davies got all the run support he would need in the first inning, when Stfan Orallo doubled home Kevin Rechkoff with one out.

The Scots blew the game open with five more in the fourth, capped by James Robbins’ two-run homer to right.

Daniel Barnet pitched the final three innings in relief of Dayton Huizenga, and allowed just one hit while striking out four.

“Dan came in and did a really good job of minimizing damage,” Costa said. “We never scored runs, and if we had only given up the one run, if you don’t hit ...”

Reckhoff finished with three hits and Josh Leupold was 2-for-2 for the Scots.

Shorecrest improved to 7-16 on the season. Mount Vernon finishes 12-8.

“Great group of seniors this year,” Costa said. “They work hard, and they were successful. For them as sophomores, we were 5-15 and struggling. We’ve had some good summers and they had a good run last year. This year we had a much better season but came up against a good Shorecrest team. We played well against Meadowdale. I think they finished on a high note.”

Eric Francis can be reached at 360-416-2131 or by e-mail at