A run in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday, June 26, helped the Oak Harbor Legion baseball team earn a split with South Whidbey this week.

The Wildcats defeated visiting South Whidbey 7-6 Thursday after falling 11-8 in Langley the previous night.

Oak Harbor (10-9) plays in a wood bat tournament in Anacortes this weekend, playing twice Friday, June 27 (11 a.m. and 7 p.m.).

Both South Whidbey games followed similar patterns. Oak Harbor scooted to an early lead, South Whidbey recovered to go ahead and then the Wildcats rallied late. Wednesday’s rally, however, fell short.

Oak Harbor went up 4-0 in the second inning, then South Whidbey scored 11 unanswered runs. The Wildcats pushed across four runs and left four runners on base over the final two innings.

Oak Harbor recorded only two hits in the game (singles by Kevyn Johnson and Trent Benson) but was aided by six walks and five hit batters.

Coupeville’s Cole Payne had one of South Whidbey’s 10 hits.

In Thursday’s game, Oak Harbor built a 5-0 lead, then South Whidbey (4-7) plated six runs in the fifth inning to take the lead.

The Wildcats tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, then won it in the seventh. Robert Herring led off the seventh with a double, moved to third on Johnson’s bunt single and scored when Clay Doughty’s sharp grounder skipped off the glove of the South Whidbey second baseman.

Johnson finished with two hits. Dylan Bailey, Danny Wolfe, Benson and Avery Aguirre added singles.

Wolfe pitched the first four innings, allowing no runs and only two hits. Aguirre picked up the win, stopping the South Whidbey rally in the fifth. He gave up two hits and no earned runs over the final three innings.

Payne singled, stole a base and drove in a run for South Whidbey.