KENT — Wilder Baseball is headed to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series for only the second time in its long and storied history.
“The last time we were in the World Series, and the only time, was in 1987 when I was a player,” Wilder manager Rob Merritt said.
“We were the Aggies then, but it was the same program.”
Merritt has been with the program many years.
“It has been a dream of mine as a coach to take at least one team to the World Series so they could experience what I experienced,” he said.
That dream is about to come true.
Wilder Baseball traditionally has been one of the strongest elite programs in the Pacific Northwest, vying or winning the Washington state championship and contending for the regional title most years.
But until now, Wilder had captured the regional championship only once.
“We have been in the regional championship game many times,” Merritt said.
Wilder was in the regional title game last year in Port Angeles but lost to national powerhouse Portland Baseball Club.
This year, playing in Kent Memorial Park, Wilder took the bull by the horns after meekly dropping its opening game 2-1 to the Siskiyou Jaxx of Yreka, Calif.
A different team
The transformation from that Game 1 loss to the regional championship was sudden and dramatic.
Wilder (20-13) was in complete control after that, stomping in succession in pool play: Vancouver, Wash., Jayhawks 15-4 Thursday night, Wyoming state champion Casper, Wyo., 12-1 Friday and Washington state champion Columbia Basin River Dogs of Moses Lake 9-3 Sunday.
Then in Monday’s championship bracket round, Wilder beat Calgary, Alberta, 5-1 in the loser-out semifinals, and then blasted host team Kent Bulldogs 10-3 in the regional final.
Wilder ended up with a 5-1 regional record and its players got noticed along the way.
Clark Rose of Kingston was named MVP of the tournament with a batting average of an amazing .733 for the six games.
“Clark was getting big hits the whole tourney,” Merritt said.
Big 6-foot-8 Easton Napiontek of Port Angeles earned the Cy Young Award for top pitcher of the tournament by going 2-0, including going the distance in the regional title game against Kent after only three days’ rest.
Larsson Chapman of Port Angeles, who played on the JV team last year as a sophomore, earned the tourney’s Golden Glove award for best defensive player in the tournament.
Chapman played first base in the tourney in place of regular first baseman Napiontek, who was moved to the outfield because of a sore back.
“Larsson didn’t let anything get by him,” Merritt said of the 6-1 16-year-old.
Also making the all-tournament team were George Marinan, Justin Straight and Marcus Konopaski.
The 18U Senior Babe Ruth World Series starts July 28 and ends Aug. 4 in Weimar, Texas.
Bracket play
Wilder opened regional championship bracket action by holding off Calgary 5-1 in the semifinals Sunday morning.
The No. 2 team from its pool, the Canadian team had a 2-2 record in pool play.
“They were a pretty good team,” Merritt said. “They were better than the team we lost to in Game 1.”
The visiting team, Wilder was ahead 4-0 before Calgary scored its only run in the bottom of the third.
The Canadians never threatened Wilder, a team loaded with many of the best players on the North Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas.
George Marinan (2-0) pitched the first six innings, scattering seven hits while giving up just the one earned run.
Rose and Michael Dean of Forks combined to throw the final inning to preserve the win.
Leadoff batter Justin Straight walked twice, scored two runs and had two RBIs while catcher Marcus Konopaski went 2 for 4 with a run and RBI.
Napiontek smacked an RBI-double.
Marinan and Rose both went 2 for 3 each with Mariner scoring a run and ripping a double.
Rose walked and had an RBI.
Title game
Wilder never trailed in the championship final against the Bulldogs.
The visiting team again, Wilder was ahead 6-0 before Kent scored its three runs in the bottom of the third.
Wilder added an insurance run in the fifth, two more in the sixth and a final run in the seventh.
Napiontek (4-1) went the distance on the mound, scattering seven hits and two earned runs on only three days’ rest.
Earlier, Wilder blasted the Jayhawks 15-4 in a game that Napiontek fanned 11 batters.
He came back to strike out four against Kent.
His strikeout numbers were down because of a lack of rest, Merritt said.
“He had a pretty gutsy performance against Kent. He did a good job of just basic pitching instead of trying to overpower guys.”
Despite taking some of the speed of his pitches, Napiontek still was throwing in the area of 87- to 88-mph.
Straight and Marcus Konopaski both batted 2 for 5 with Straight rapping out a double and RBI, and scoring a run.
Marcus hit two runners in, hit a double and scored a run.
Marinan had a double and an RBI as he went 1 for 4 at the plate. The numbers don’t tell the story about Marinan’s hitting, though.
“George had a great day hitting,” Merritt said.
“He hit every ball to the wall with the wind blowing in. On another day he could have had three home runs.”
Rose added to his offensive numbers by going 2 for 3 with three RBIs and two runs.
Cole Uvila of Port Angeles went 2 for 4 with an RBI and run, while Chapman was 1 for 3 with a double and RBI.
Port Townsend’s Kyle Kelly went 2 for 3 with a double, RBI and a run.
Tourney Notes: The Siskiyou Jaxx of Yreka, Calif., represented South Oregon in the regional tournament.
The team made fun of that fact on its Web site.
“We are going to regionals as the South Oregon team. That’s OK because we never hear from California unless they want something from us.”
Jaxx almost became the little team that shocked the tourney as it tied for first in pool play at 3-1 with powerhouses Wilder and the River Dogs.
But Jaxx was eliminated from bracket play on a tie-breaker that counted the fewest runs given up. Wilder came in first on that criteria while the River Dogs were awarded second and Jaxx was sent packing back to North California.
Wilder was the visiting team in all of its six games.
“We had the same dugout the whole tournament,” Merritt said. “I was OK with that.”
Semifinals
Wilder 5, Calgary 1
Wilder 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 — 5 9 1
Calgary 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 — 1 8 2
WP- Marinan (2-0)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Marinan 6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 1 BB; Rose 2/3 IP; Dean 1/3 IP.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Straight 1-3, 2 RBIs, 2 R, 2 BB; Marcus Konopaski 2-4, R, RBI; Napiontek RBI-2B; Marinan 2-3, 2B, R; Rose 2-3, RBI, BB.
Regional Championship
Wilder 10, Kent Bulldogs 3
Wilder 1 2 3 0 1 2 1 — 10 13 1
Kent 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 — 3 7 3
WP- Napiontek (4-1)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Napiontek 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 2 BB, 1 HB.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Straight 2-5, 2B, RBI, R; Marcus Konopaski 2-5, 2B, R, RBI; Marinan 1-4, 2B, RBI; Rose 2-3, 3 RBIs, 2 R; Uvila 2-4, RBI, R; Chapman 1-3, 2B, RBI; Kelly 2-3, 2B, R, RBI.