By TIM ADAMS

Sports editor

Tuesday’s WesCo North baseball matchup between defending Class 4A state champion Snohomish and Oak Harbor high schools on the Wildcats’ home field was a well played game by by both teams.

Oak Harbor staked the Panthers to a three-run lead in the first inning and although the Wildcats fought back for the next seven innings, they were unable to overcome the early deficit and lost 6-3.

“That was a good game,” coach Tyson Van Dam said. “We spotted them a couple of runs early, but we battled back okay. It was not a bad job for a young team.”

Oak Harbor (2-3) scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning on a leadoff single by Kian Mebane, a single by Pat Higbee, an error, an infield out and a sacrifice fly by Kurtis Weaver to narrow the margin.

Snohomish added a pair of runs in the top of the fourth on a single by Bryce Meinhold to make the score 5-2, but the Wildcats pulled off a little two-out magic in the bottom half of the inning.

Nate Young drew a walk and Shea Weaver followed with a single. Sam Wolfe then ripped a double to right-center field to score Young with the third run. Jay Stout walked to load the bases, but the Wildcats had to settle for just a single run when Kurtis Weaver made the final out.

Oak Harbor had six hits in the game and got some strong relief pitching from Weaver, who gave up no earned runs in three plus innings of work.

Left-hander Brian Wolfe pitched the first four innings for the Panthers before James Higgins took over, setting down the nine batters he faced in order.

“I thought we could have had a couple of better at bats late in the game but all in all, it wasn’t bad,” Van Dam said.

The Wildcats host Marysville-Pilchuck at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 1.