The Ilwaco baseball team huddles after defeating Raymond/South Bend 16-6 in the first game on Tuesday.

LONG BEACH — The Ilwaco baseball team kicked off their 2023 campaign by sweeping Raymond/South Bend by a combined 27-8 margin in a Pacific League doubleheader on Tuesday.

In both games the Fishermen rallied from an early deficit to win convincingly, including a 16-6 five-inning mercy rule victory in the first game and a dominant 11-2 victory in the second.

Fishermen turn rally into 10-run runaway

The first game of the season got off to a rough start for the Fishermen.

In the top of the first inning, Raven senior Ty Reidinger drove in the first run before the visiting team added three more, finishing their first time at-bat with 4-0 lead.

The Fishermen answered in their first turn at the plate and matched the Ravens, led by a Cannon Johnson 2-RBI double and a Kaeden Lyster RBI single, tying the game 4-4.

In the bottom of the second inning, Ilwaco junior Kaemon Sawa blew open a tight game by blasting a 3-RBI double to deep center, giving the Fishermen a 7-4 lead that they would never relinquish, culminating in a 16-6 five-inning victory. Sawa finished with a team-high five RBIs.

Ilwaco starting pitcher Jacob Rogers (1-0) went four innings to pick up the win, allowing seven hits with six strikeouts. Sawa pitched the final inning in relief.

In the second game, after a scoreless first inning, Ravens junior Jordan Demaray legged out a triple that turned into an inside-the-park home run on a throwing error, giving Raymond/South Bend a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning.

Like the first game, the Raven lead would be short lived.

In the Fishermen’s ensuing at-bat junior Ethan Hopkins lined a lead-off double to center, followed by a Jacob Rogers RBI double, tying the game 1-1.

Ilwaco took the lead on a successful suicide squeeze, with Grady Cox laying down the sacrifice bunt allowing Rogers to score from third, giving the Fishermen a 3-1 lead, eventually cruising to a 11-2 victory.

The Fishermen scattered 23 hits between both games, led by Ethan Hopkins and Alex Hillard with four each, followed by Kaemon Sawa and Cannon Johnson with three.

Up next: Ilwaco traveled across the river to face Astoria on March 17, losing 6-4 and falling to 2-1 overall. They returned home for a game against North Beach on Tuesday, March 21, after the Observer’s print deadline.