LAKEWOOD After a flat performance cost Lakewood baseball its opener against Archbishop Murphy, the Cougars roared back to capture the series with 12- and 14-run performances.
While Lakewood suffered a 12-0 stomping March 10 they landed only two hits Lakewood coach Larry Delaney gave all the credit to his team for their turnaround.
We just flat out got beat, Delaney said after the home opener. They outhit us, they played better defensively and pitched better.
But as the series went on, the Lakewood team began to look more like ones from seasons past. In their first rematch against Murphy, Lakewood had 17 hits en route to a 12-3 win in Everett.
After 10-running the Wildcats in six innings to win the series in a 14-4 victory March 15, Delaney explained the guys mostly needed to work on their patience, particularly when they were up to bat.
We worked on our approach at the plate. We managed to help ourselves out, work the count in our favor, he said. We were a little too aggressive. In high school ball, if youre patient, youll get a pitch to hit.
Three games into the season, Delaney is happy with his committee approach to the pitching job. It gives the opposition a lot of different looks, and gives the players more opportunities to play.
While pitchers who throw three innings are required to sit 72 hours before pitching again, some players might pitch an inning or two every game.
This year, were not relying on guys to go five or six innings, he added. Weve got depth in our pitching staff where we can do that.
Lakewood had some bright spots in the first game, including a first-inning double from right fielder Josh Spears, who also had a long pass to home plate for a dramatic second-inning out. He would go on to hit two more doubles and a home run in the second game. Seniors Fabrice Lays, Collin Murphy, Marcus Harkins and Jordan Stauffer each added a double in one of the two Lakewood wins.
I think it was a bit of an eye-opener to open our season with a 12-run loss, Delaney summed up the week in the Lakewood baseball. (But) we have a talented bunch, and as coaches we know that.
A tougher Cedarcrest team awaits Lakewood.

At Lakewood H.S. (March 11)
Archbishop Murphy 1 0 2 3 6 x x 12
Lakewood 0 0 0 0 0 x x 0

At Archbishop Murphy H.S. (March 13)
Lakewood 1 5 2 0 0 2 2 12
Archbishop Murphy 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 3

At Lakewood H.S. (March 16)
Archbishop Murphy 2 0 2 0 0 0 x 4
Lakewood 0 1 8 0 4 1 x 14