Staff Writer Saint Garcia

The T-Ducks (21-9) lost devastatingly to their conference baseball rivals the North Lake Blazers (11-15) 12-2 on March 26.

Richland had a conference series match-up and were hosted by the Blazers. Heading into the game, the T-Ducks lost the last two games in a row against the Blazers in a three-game series but had hopes of getting out of their slump with a win.

Richland got off to a good start, getting a run on the scoreboard in the first inning. They also held the Blazers in check until the bottom of the third.

The Blazers were able to start a rally by getting a few players on base with impressive action of being able to convert RBIs. North Lake stunned the T-Ducks by putting up four runs in the bottom of the third inning. The T-Ducks were put into a position where they had to respond. It seemed as if a rally started to form. It was shortly cut, however, after left fielder Kyle Reece scored a run making the ballgame competitive.

The energy started to shift approaching the bottom of the fourth. The Blazers started early as they continued to get base hits putting themselves into position to convert hits into runs. And that is exactly what happened from that point as their rally continued in what seemed to be a long inning by driving in six runs making the game 10-2 at that point.

The T-Ducks did not have a response and appeared to grow frustrated by not being able to get on base consistently. With a couple of pitching changes and only two more hits the rest of the game, the T-Ducks would come up short in this conference series. The Blazers scored two more runs in the sixth and seventh innings further showing that a comeback was not to be in this game.