Flipping the script, the Oak Harbor High School baseball team handed host Marysville-Pilchuck its first Wesco North loss of the season 11-3 Wednesday, April 15.

A day earlier, the Tomahawks scored four runs in the final inning to snap a tie and take the 6-2 win. This time, the Wildcats rallied late.

Down 2-1, Oak Harbor erupted for eight runs in the sixth inning and tacked on two more in the seventh to turn a tense game into a breeze.

The victory also moved the Wildcats (4-2, 6-4) within one game of first-place M-P (5-1, 8-3).

The teams complete their three-game series at 4 p.m. Friday, April 17, in Oak Harbor.

Oak Harbor starter Danny Wolfe, dodging trouble each inning, registered clutch outs and kept the Wildcats in the game until his offense took off.

Marysville-Pilchuck scored a run in the first inning on two hits and a ground out, then added another in the third on a single, stolen base and two fly balls.

The Tomahawks started the seventh inning with a pair of hits and a run, and Wolfe gave way to Trent Benson, who record three consecutive outs to finish the game.

M-P had base runners in every inning, stranding 11, including six in scoring position.

The Oak Harbor defense cut down two runners at the plate in the second inning.

“Danny threw a great game,” assistant coach Kyle Isaacson said. “He kept them off balance.”

Oak Harbor scored first in the top of the first inning. Kevyn Johnson and C.J. Meders walked, then Johnson scored on an error.

From that point, the Wildcats had only three base runners until the big sixth.

The eight-run sixth, ironically, started with a strike out, then nine consecutive batters reached base.

Clay Doughty, playing in his first game after an injury, singled, then Tyler Snavely walked and Wolfe was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

A single by Preston Rankin drove in two runs, and Chris Trisler followed with an RBI base hit. That made it 4-2.

Robert Herring’s base hit and an error to Johnson reloaded the bases. Meders was hit by a pitch and Brent Mertins walked, each forcing in runs.

The final two runs came on a sacrifice fly by Doughty and a single by Snavely.

In the seventh, singles by Trisler, Herring and Meders resulted in two runs.

Herring “came up big off the bench,” Isaacson said. He entered the game in the fifth inning and finished with three hits; Trisler added two, and Johnson scored three runs.