Baseball Game Preview: Newport - Bellevue Knights vs. Mercer Island Islanders

The Newport - Bellevue Knights will take on the Mercer Island Islanders at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.

Newport - Bellevue came up short against Mount Si on Wednesday, falling 10-2. The Knights have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Newport - Bellevue saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Julian Unay, who scored a run while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Alex Ohira also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Meanwhile, Mercer Island had to endure a four-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 6-5 victory over Bellevue on Wednesday. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Mercer Island also got a great performance from Chase Koehler as he tossed six innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. Koehler has become a key player for the Islanders: the team is 2-1 when he allows at most three hits, but 1-7 otherwise.

At the plate, Baird Sirriani was excellent, scoring a run while going 3-for-3. Those three hits gave him a new career-high. Tino Pizzo was another key player, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one RBI.

Mercer Island's win was their first in the district, bumping their district record up to 1-5 and their overall record up to 3-8. As for Newport - Bellevue, their loss dropped their record down to 1-10-1.

Newport - Bellevue came out on top in a nail-biter against Mercer Island in their previous matchup back in June of 2021, sneaking past 4-2. Will the Knights repeat their success, or do the Islanders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.