The surging Mercer Island baseball team beat top-ranked Skyline 11-1 on Saturday.

Cullen Russell was dominating on the mound, allowing only one earned-run on 6 hits, 12 strikeouts and zero walks.

The Islanders exploded for 12 hits, led by an inside-the-park home run and 3 RBI’s by Sean Perryman. Ben Shoemaker, Andrew Higgins, and Willy Reel all had two hits. Reel and Joey Scalzo added 2 RBI’s.

The win moved the Islander’s to 6-3 in Kingco league standings and a third place tie with Newport.

The Islander beat Newport 12-3 on Wednesday.

Mercer Island’s 14 hits during the game included a 4-for-4 effort by Perryman, who had two doubles and an RBI.

The Islanders did their biggest damage during the third inning, when they put up six runs. Mercer Island put some distance between itself and the Knights with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Scalzo scored three hits and three runs, David Courtney had three RBIs while Chris Black had two RBIs and three runs. On the mound, Black, Cam Wilson and starter Russell combined for the victory.

The next day, Mercer Island battled Liberty for 11 innings, eventually coming up short 4-3, despite Islander Andrew Higgins’ clutch home run during the seventh to tie the game.

This is the furthest into a season that the Islanders have been with a record over .500 since 2004.

The Islanders hosted Marysville-Pilchuck at Island Crest Park on Monday (after Reporter deadline). Mercer Island will travel to Sammamish High School today at 4 p.m. to take on the Totems.