TACOMA — The Port Angeles baseball team had a fantastic run at the 2A bi-district tournament, winning three straight.
But, being a No. 9 seed in the tournament, the Roughriders had to win four straight to qualify for regionals, and they couldn’t pull that final win, coming up just short of moving on.
The Riders’ bats erupted in beating Orting 16-8 in the tournament’s lower bracket semifinals Saturday afternoon. Only the winner of the lower-bracket gets to qualify for regionals. In the evening game, Port Angeles lost 7-1 to a 14-6 White River team, ending the Riders’ season.
“We had a good run. We just ran into a tough team at the end,” said coach Casey Dietz. “We put ourselves into the game we wanted to be in.”
Port Angeles beat Franklin Pierce 8-5 and Olympic (which had beaten the Riders twice this year) 7-5 earlier in the tournament. After starting the season 0-4, the Riders went 13-6 over their final 19 games and 6-1 over their final seven to finish the season 13-10.
“We got off to a slow start, but the character of the team was we were getting better every game,” Dietz said.
Several hitters had huge games in the Orting win. Cole Johnson was 2-for-2 with a home run, four runs scored and an RBI.
Michael Soule was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, Beckett Jarnagin was 2 for 4 with three runs and four RBIs. Elijah Flodstrom was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and John Vaara was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs. James Burkhardt had a hit, an RBI and three runs scored.
Kaleb Mullen started the game, allowing six runs in three innings, but Colton Romero came on in relief, shutting down Orting and only allowing one run in two innings. Burkhardt allowed one run in a couple of innings.
In the White River loss, the Riders did manage nine hits, but left a lot of runners stranded. Vaara was 2-for-4, Payton Cagey was 2-for-3 and Johnson was 2-for-3.
On the mound, the Riders used five pitchers in the do-or-die game. Luke Flodstrom came up to varsity to pitch two innings, allowing just one run. Blake Sohlberg went 1⅔ innings, allowing an unearned run. Soule pitched an inning, allowing no runs.
The Riders graduate Soule, Burkhardt, Hunter Robinson, Jarnagin and Vaara but have a lot of players returning next year. Many of the Roughriders will also play on the Wilder Baseball Club this summer with an expected influx of some very good Forks players.
Forks 6, Kalama 3
Forks 7, Ilwaco 0
ADNA — The Forks baseball team bounced back from a loss to win its final two games at the Southwest 2B District 4 tournament, qualifying for regionals.
The Spartans lost their first game of the year last Tuesday, 17-6 to Napavine, putting a berth to the regional tournament in jeopardy. Forks bounced back with a 7-0 win over Ilwaco on Friday behind a three-hit gem from Logan Olson to qualify for state. The Spartans followed up with a 6-3 win over Kalama on Saturday to finish third in the district tournament and improve their seeding for regionals. Napavine went on to win the district tournament with a win over Toutle Lake.
In Saturday’s win, Logan Urvina started and went 6⅔ innings, allowing five hits, two walks and two earned runs. He struck out six. Dalton Kilmer picked up the save by getting the final out with a strikeout.
At the plate, Riley Pursley went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Olson went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Dalton Kilmer had a double and two runs scored. Urvina added a hit.
In Friday’s win, Olson went the entire game, striking out nine while only walking two. Olson added a pair of doubles and two RBIs to help his cause. Aiden Salazar went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Gunner Rogers went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases. Kilmer, Landin Davis and Keaton Northcut all had hits.
Forks (16-1) begins play at the state 2B tournament beginning Saturday against Liberty Bell. The game is scheduled to be played at 1 p.m. at Castle Rock High School. If the Spartans win, they would next play the winner of Toutle Lake and Ilwaco later that day at Castle Rock. Despite losing to Napavine, Toutle Lake (19-2) is the No. 1 seed in the regionals.
Forks is a No. 9 seed at regionals while Liberty Bell (14-7 overall) is a No. 8 seed.
Forks 7, Ilwaco 0
Ilw. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 3 4
Forks 1 3 1 0 0 2 X — 7 9 0
WP: Olson.
Pitching
Forks — Olson 7 IP, 3 H, 9 K, 2 BB.
Hitting
Forks — Olson 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Salazar 2-4 R, RBI; Rogers 2-3, R 2 SB; Davis 1-3, R, RBI, SB, BB; Kilmer 1-2 R, 2 BB; Northcut 1-3, R.
Forks 6, Kalama 3
Kal. 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 — 3 7 2
Forks 3 0 0 2 0 1 X — 6 6 3
WP: Urvina. SV: Kilmer.
Pitching
Forks — Urvina 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 K, 2 BB; Kilmer 0.1 IP, 2 H, K.
Hitting
Forks — Olson 2-3, R, RBI; Pursley 2-3 2 RBI, SB; Kilmer 1-3, 2B, 2 R, SB; Urvina 1-3, BB.
