Bears give up runs early and fail to capitalize in 2-1 loss

Written By Mitch Vareldzis

Highline Bears Broadcaster

SEATTLE – It was an opening weekend that presented a lot of promise for the Highline Bears (0-2), but it ended in unceremonious fashion. The Bears suffered their second loss of the season in a 2-1 heartbreaker to the visiting Northwest Honkers (1-4) on Saturday evening.

It was a rough go of things from the very beginning. Starting pitcher Nick Horn surrendered four opening inning walks and was only able to amass one out before being pulled in just the first inning.

The pitching from then on however would shut down the Honkers for the rest of the night. AJ Palmer, Colton Borg and Connor Benson would pitch the final 8 ⅔ innings for the Bears. “I could not have asked for more out of AJ,” head coach Josh Evans said. “He came out and absolutely dominated.” Palmer’s final line was 6 ⅔ innings allowing four hits, one run and striking out seven batters. Six of those seven strikeouts had the batter swinging and missing.

“I felt pretty good,” Palmer said. “My changeup was working today. I just felt really good out there.” The lone run for the Bears would come in the bottom of the sixth inning. With runners on second and first, right fielder Alex Bryner lined a pitch up the middle for his first hit of the season. Designated hitter Bryce Beck would score but second baseman Brenden Duncan would be out trying to advance to third on the play.

The Bears have a chance to recover from what has become a long weekend. They play their first road game of the season against the Honkers in Fall City on Sunday. First pitch will be at 1:05 p.m.