Experienced teams with veteran players know how to come from behind and win games. They don't panic when they are down.

Of the 21 players on Ballard's varsity roster, 16 are seniors. One-half of these players have at least three years of KingCo 4A varsity playing time. The Beavers are playing like veterans and though it is just the first week of conference play, the 5-1 Beavers (2-0 conference) are on top of the league standings.

Though they have played well against Roosevelt and Newport, it has taken 19 innings to win those games. After Wednesday's 9-inning victory against The Roughriders, The Beavers came from behind again to beat the previously undefeated Newport Knights of Bellevue on Friday, March 22.

What makes these wins special is not just the play of the veterans, but also the play of the first year starters. In Friday's 7-5 win against Newport, the first year starters, Freshman CF Joe Eskenazi, Sophomore's 2B Jacob Westerman, DH/P Alex Livengood and Junior LF Davis Lohman combined for 3 runs, 5 hits, 4 RBI's, 2 walks and zero strikeouts!

Newport scored 2 runs in the first inning and held the lead until the 6th inning when Ryan Kangas' RBI double scored 2B Jacob Westerman. Both teams scored a pair of runs in the 7th and single runs in the 8th. In the 10th inning with the bases loaded, Joe Eskenazi's sacrifice fly to center field scored 3B George Chrisafis and SS Ben Welch's RBI single scored Drew Lombardi for the game winning runs as Newport was not able to respond.

Senior 3B/P Ryan Kangas did earn 'double duty' player of the game honors. On offense, Kangas went 3 for 4 at the plate with 2 doubles and 1 RBI. On defense, Ryan earned the victory, pitching the final 3 innings without any earned runs and striking out two batters.

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