ARLINGTON — The Eagles baseball team beat the Monroe Bearcats 9-1 during a home game on Friday, April 13.

“Garett Atkinson threw a really good game,” said AHS Varsity coach Scott Striegel. It was the first win on the mound for Atkinson, an AHS junior. “He did a really good job of changing speeds and throwing kids off balance,” said Striegel.

Atkinson pitched seven innings, with 11 strike-outs and four hits. “He really pounded the strikes and got ahead of the hitters. He was really able to command his fastball,” said Striegel. “He retired the final 13 in a row.” Atkinson gave up all four hits during the first three innings of the game, but after that he settled in. At the plate, sophomore Ryan Walker went 2-4, senior DJ Smith went 2-3, junior Aaron Spring went 2-4 and junior Isaiah Vaughn went 2-4.

“The middle of our order really came alive with nine hits between the four guys, so that was huge,” said Striegel. “We’re getting production out of the whole lineup.”

Before defeating the Bearcats, the Eagles faced a challenging series against the Lake Stevens High School Vikings during the first week of April. The Vikings are ranked number one in their division. “We had a really tough series before this where we played Lake Stevens and they are a really good ball club,” Striegel said. The team lost to the Vikings in the first two games, but the made a tougher opponent in the third. “It told us that when we play well, we can compete with anybody. If we can take care of ourselves, we have a lot of success,” said Striegel.

The AHS baseball team also scored a win over Monroe on Saturday, April 14, with a final score of 5-2. They are currently tied for fourth place, with the top four division teams heading to playoffs. “Getting one more win will be really big for us,” said Striegel.

The Eagles are set to faceoff against Marysville-Pilchuck on April 18 and 20, and Stanwood the following week.