Story by Jordan Nailon

BEAVER — Forks and Tenino used up all of the available daylight Thursday March 27 in their 1A Southwest Evergreen League double header, and still left the field with unfinished business. Tenino took the first end of the series by a score of 11-1, while the second contest was postponed at a 5-5 tie due to darkness after five innings.

In the first game, errors again got the best of the Spartans and Tenino was able to use every miscue to their advantage. Nate Gimlin started the contest on the mound for Forks and managed a respectable outing, going five innings and allowing only two earned runs, and sprinkling in four strikeouts.

The bullpen crew was not able to extinguish the hot Beaver crew and defensive lapses only fueled the fire as Tenino piled on seven runs in the final two frames.

Forks was able to strike first in the second game, putting up three runs in the first inning after leadoff hitter Reis Lawson was hit by a pitch to start the rally.Starting pitcher Javier Contrares, pitching for the second time this week, was able to keep the Tenino bats at bay through three innings before running out of gas in the fourth and surrendering three runs. He left the game with a no-decision.

Tenino took a 5-3 lead in the top of fifth inning on a bases clearing double by Kellen Miller, but Forks answered back in the nearly dark bottom half of that inning when Lawson (1 for 1, 2B, 2 runs) again was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning and then was brought home on a towering two run homerun from catcher Reese Hagan (2 for 3, 3 RBI). Zeb Chamberlain pitched all five innings for Tenino. The game will be wrapped up at Tenino when Forks makes the trip to south Thurston County later in the season.

“We responded well from the first game,” said Spartans coach Wayne Daman. “We came back and competed, never got down, and responded when adversity hit.”

Forks (2-2, 0-2 league) hosted league opponent Elma at the field in Beaver on Tuesday, April 1.