The Sumner High baseball squad got off to a good start, beating Yelm 5-3 March 18 at home before falling to North Thurston 10-5 Friday.

In the opener, SHS got excellent pitching from right-handed sophomores Brad Falk and Seth Morgan.

Falk pitched the first four innings, fanning six Yelm batters, and Morgan went the rest of the way. Falk helped his own cause going 2-for-2 at the plate and his battery mate, junior catcher Alex Sloan, went 1-for-3, hitting a RBI double.

Sumner didn’t fare as well against North Thurston. Although Sumner led 4-3 in the top of the second frame, North Thurston charged back as it notched two runs in the second, four more runs in the fourth and one more in the fifth to carry a 10-4 advantage into the top of the seventh. The never-say-die Spartans scored one more run in the seventh frame, but the Rams nipped the rally in the bud.

Sumner threw everything but the kitchen sink at North Thurston as they went the first two innings with Tanner Walker, put Jordan Schliesman in to pitch the third, Mike Dent the fourth and freshman Michael Greenwood the fifth and sixth.

Sumner will be looking to improve the numbers on the left side of the ledger in league competition this week. The Spartans hosted Enumclaw Tuesday, will travel to Peninsula today, Wednesday, and will host Clover Park at 4 p.m. Friday.

Reach John Leggett at jleggett@courierherald.com or 360-802-8207.