Posted: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 10:02 PM

A year’s worth of disappointments were behind Morgan Baker’s swing.

R.A. Long had lost to Mark Morris in every single boys team matchup this school year. They fell by a touchdown in the Greater St. Helens 2A League-deciding football game and to last-second foul shots in both of the hardwood showdowns.

The Jacks left the bases loaded in the Story Field edition of the baseball Civil War a few weeks ago and were routed 18-6 in the five-inning Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader at the Lumberyard.

“They’re going to make me lose my hair when I’m 35,” Baker said. “Those Monarchs will get you. I have (MM basketball coach Bill Bakamus) harassing me across the alley every day.

“I’ve had two shots in football and basketball and both were heartbreakers. I stepped to the plate with the same situation, with the game on the line.”

With two on and two out in the sixth inning, he delivered: Baker’s three-run bomb lifted RAL to a 7-6 win in the nightcap and salvaged a split on an evening of vented frustration.

Mark Morris was two days removed from surrendering control of the league title race in a loss against Hockinson, and the Monarchs came out swinging.

“We had a tough outing against Hockinson on Saturday,” Monarchs third basemen Lane Spenker said. “We just brought the energy into the game. We felt like pounding on them a little bit.”

MM (5-2 in league, 10-4) scored six runs in both the first and second innings of Game 1.

The Monarchs batted around in each frame behind six hits, six walks and three RAL errors. Spenker had two RBI doubles and the game was effectively over by the time R.A. Long (4-4 in league, 8-6) even got to the sixth man in its order.

Every MM starter reached base at least twice and Spenker, Cameron Mosier and Trevor Williams all had multiple hits.

The second game opened much as the first one had ended, with a Jack fumbling a ground ball — R.A. Long had seven errors in Game 1 alone and 12 on the day.

“It’s a contagious thing,” RAL coach Mark Hulings said. “This game is so emotional, especially with high school kids. One boot, and it turns into another error. It sort of snowballs. I think we feed off both the positive and negative. We’ve gotta be able to stop the bleeding sometimes.”

The pitching combination of Jose Hinojosa and Tanner Ruffe obliged, soldiering through even as the Monarchs opened a 4-1 fourth-inning lead thanks to a leadoff triple from Cody Enholm and a series of defensive miscues.

R.A. Long chipped away with single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings but stranded multiple runners on base in all of them.

Mark Morris turned to hard-throwing Max Tilton to protect a 5-3 lead in the sixth. Once he froze Ryan Peerboom with an outside fastball, Tilton was one out from the safety of the away dugout.

Then Baker stepped in and lifted a drive into the treetops beyond the fence in left-center.

“Max is a great fastball pitcher,” Baker said. “He can blow it by you. I was sitting back waiting for one of those. I got one right where I like it and the rest is history.

“I haven’t hit too many (home runs) in my day, but this one felt special.”

Even then, the Monarchs made them sweat. Mosier reached on a fielder’s choice and scored to pull the Monarchs within a run. Enholm made it all the way to third after the Jacks fumbled the tag that would’ve ended the game.

But Ruffe retired Max Leach with a sweeping curve and the catharsis was complete.

“We’ll come out ready to tear into somebody next time we play,” Richards said. “... We’re already looking at Washougal as somebody that’s going to have to take our frustrations.”

Their crosstown rivals know the feeling.