The wind at Whitman Middle School picked up and carried seemingly any ball that was hit that day. It also carried away a Ballard High School offense that had averaged nearly 10 runs per game during a recent three-game stretch.

Newport handed the Ballard baseball team an 8-0 defeat, its third in a row, April 7. The Beavers were also shut out 4-0 in an April 4 make-up game against Bothell.

The team is now sitting at 4-5 overall and 3-4 in the conference while its offense has disappeared. In three games, from March 26 to April 3, Ballard scored 29 runs and went 2-1. They have not scored in the two games since.

It wasn't only the Ballard offense that struggled against Newport. After pitching three shutout innings and giving up only two hits, Ballard senior Jordy Donald gave up four hits, loaded the bases and walked in a run in the fourth inning.

Junior Ryan Garrett took over in the fourth for Donald with the bases loaded and no outs. He got out of it with a nifty second-first-home triple play, but Newport was on top 3-0.

Garrett would get beat up in the sixth inning, giving up five hits and four runs.

All told, three Ballard pitchers combined for 14 hits, eight runs and two strikeouts.

The Beavers look to recover against Issaquah at 3:45 p.m., April 9 at Issaquah Field.