West Linn shortstop Jonathan Kelly hit his fifth home run of the season Friday against Tigard. (Photo by Joanne Masters)

WEST LINN -- What it lacked in style, West Linn’s 4-2 win over visiting Tigard on Friday more than made up for in timeliness.

The Lions entered on a three-game losing streak, including back-to-back losses to Tigard this week that had the Lions clinging to a half-game lead atop the Three Rivers League baseball standings.

But thanks to an inside-the-park grand slam by senior shortstop Jonathan Kelly and a gutsy pitching performance by sophomore Kyle Sullivan, second-ranked West Linn (14-8, 11-4) was able to steady the ship against the surging Tigers (13-8, 8-4).

“This is a big win for us to be able to come through and pull it out,” said Sullivan, who gave up two runs and eight hits in six innings. “If we didn’t win this game, it could’ve put us somewhere else for the playoffs.”

The Lions won despite managing only three hits off Tigard senior Lance Kreisberg as their offense remains stuck in neutral.

“We hit the ball well early in the season, and early in league play, and we just haven’t had the bats in 2 ½ weeks,” West Linn coach Joe Monahan said. “Our pitching and defense up until this week has been good enough, but our defense has really suffered this week.”

The Tigers came out swinging in the first inning, getting consecutive singles from Kreisberg and senior CJ Rivers and a two-out, two-run double by senior Fletcher Ahl.

West Linn got all of its runs in the second inning. The Lions loaded the bases on a single by senior Matthew Kurtin and walks by sophomores Clay Masters and Caden Parker, bringing Kelly to the plate with two outs.

Kelly hit a high drive to right field toward Ahl, who nearly made an outstanding catch, but the ball popped out of his glove when he ran into the fence. Ahl laid on the turf as the ball trickled away, and by the time junior center fielder Tyler Penn could retrieve it, Kelly had rounded the bases for a grand slam.

“We got a break today,” Monahan said. “Their outfielder made a heck of a play on the ball, got to it and just couldn’t hang onto it. Fortunately for us, it resulted in four runs with two outs. We were just good enough to hang on.”

Ahl said he could see that he was getting near the fence, “but I couldn’t slow down because I don’t think I could’ve got to it. All my momentum was going into the fence. It kind of knocked the wind out of me.”

It was the fifth home run of the season for Kelly, rated as the state’s No. 1 senior prospect by Baseball Northwest. The Xavier-bound Kelly – whose brother Matt starred at Wilsonville and now plays infield at the University of Portland – is batting near .500.

“He’s had a great season,” Monahan said. “Nobody’s going to pitch to a guy like him.”

Kelly’s home run was the final hit for West Linn as Kreisberg retired the last 13 batters. Fortunately for the Lions, they were able to shut down the Tigers, who failed to score after loading the bases with one out in the third inning and thwarted potential rallies with baserunning errors in the fifth and sixth.

Sullivan, West Linn’s No. 3 pitcher behind Kelly and senior Caleb Franzen, struck out three and walked one.

“He’s coming along. He’s got a bright future,” Monahan said. “He tends sometimes to leave the ball up and gets himself in trouble early, but he’s a competitor and he battles through it.”

Said Sullivan: “I threw well. Had my curveball working. I wish I would locate better with my fastball, but there’s always room for improvement.”

West Linn senior Gabe Johnson relieved Sullivan in the seventh and retired the Tigers in order to seal the win. If the Lions can take care of business in their final three-game league series against Tualatin May 13-15, they can secure their third consecutive Three Rivers title and fifth in six seasons.

Tigard, which hasn’t won a league title since taking the Pac-9 Conference in 2006, has three-game league sets remaining with Tualatin and Lake Oswego.

“If we want to get the league championship, we’re probably going to have to win out,” Ahl said. “But this was a good week for us. We know that we’re capable of it now. We’re playing good at the right time. We’re still in a good spot.”