PORT ANGELES — Lions flipped the script on Swain’s in the 12U major baseball city championship at Lincoln Park.
In last year’s finale, Swain’s rallied to defeat Lions despite being swept by them during the regular season.
Thursday, Lions returned the favor with a 5-2 victory after being swept by Swain’s in league play.
Lions’ offense started with a bang following a three-up, three-down top of the first inning by starting pitcher Kai Ferguson.
Naaman McGuffey, batting leadoff in place of injured Race Ford, lined the first pitch he saw from Swain’s starter Beckett Jarnigan for a single to center. McGuffey then took second on a passed ball.
Shortstop Daniel Cable followed with a single to right field, scoring McGuffey from second.
Cable, having advanced to second on the throw home, took third on a wild pitch. He then caught the Swain’s battery off-guard and stole home to give Lions a 2-0 lead.
Swain’s (12-6) responded in the top of the second. Jarnigan drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on a throwing error to cut the lead to 2-1.
McGuffey got things started again for Lions (15-3) in the third with a line drive to left-center. Cable singled again, and with two outs, Ferguson lifted a two-run double to left field that made the lead 4-1.
Swain’s threatened again in the fourth when catcher Parker Nickerson led off with a double. But Les Derma’s diving catch on a line drive up the middle and two strikeouts by Ferguson ended the scoring opportunity.
With the top of the Swain’s order due up, Cable came on in relief of Ferguson in the fifth.
Cable issued a leadoff walk to Brantyn Fisler, but the threat was quickly erased when Lions catcher McGuffey picked off Fisler, who had taken an aggressive lead, at first base.
Cable retired the next two batters.
With two outs in the bottom of the frame, Cable laced a triple to right-center off Swain’s reliever Matt Mangano and then scored on a passed ball for a 5-1 Lions lead.
Jarnagin again drew a leadoff walk for Swain’s, moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, and then swiped third. After a strikeout, Derma grounded out to first, scoring Jarnigan and cutting the lead 5-2.
A repeat of last year’s sixth-inning in rally was not to be, though, as Cable closed the door by striking out the final batter.
Cable didn’t allow a hit and finished with three strikeouts and two talks in his two innings on the mound. Ferguson fanned five, walked three and gave up a run and two hits in four innings.
For Swain’s, Jarnigan pitched 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight batters, walking one and allowing five hits and four runs. Mangano walked one, gave up one run and one hit and struck out two in the two-thirds of an inning that he pitched.
Olympic Junior Babe Ruth
Westport 2, Local 155 1
PORT ANGELES — Fourth-seeded Westport and fifth-seeded Local 155 needed extra innings to settle their Olympic Junior Babe Ruth baseball playoff game.
Westport broke up a no-hitter with a trio of hits that led to the winning run in its 2-1 victory in nine innings Thursday.
Local’s Tate Gahimer and Seth Schofield held Westport hitless until Tyler Bowen, Daniel Basden and Andrew Pena singled in the ninth inning.
Isaiah Getchell then hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to left field that scored Bowen and ended the game.
Gahimer tossed seven no-hit innings and was close to finishing off the game and advancing Local to the next round, but three walks in the bottom of the seventh and a passed ball allowed Bowen to score, making it 1-1 and sending the game to extra frames.
“Gahimer pitched a no-hitter through seven innings, which is pretty impressive in Junior Babe Ruth,” Westport coach Zac Moore said.
Schofield took over on the mound for the eighth and ninth innings.
“This was an extremely well-pitched game for both teams, with only seven hits combined,” Moore said.
Pena started the game for Westport. He struck out eight and gave up three hits.
“Pena was helped out with strong defensive plays from Slater Bradley, who made a diving catch in right field, and Michael Soule, who took away two hard hit ground balls at third base,” Moore said.
Bradley relieved Pena and pitched three innings, striking out one and giving up one hit. Bowen pitched the last two-thirds of the ninth inning, which Moore said Bowen ended himself with a nice defensive play.
Local 155 scored its run in the third inning. Angelo Ramos was hit by a pitch, advanced on Derek Bowechop’s single and came home on Seth Schofield’s fielder’s choice.
Devin Batchelor went 2 for 3 at the plate for Local, and Caleb Ripley added a single.
Westport was defeated in the Olympic Junior Babe Ruth semifinals by Swain’s on Saturday, setting up a championship game showdown between Swain’s and Forks Outfitters on Wednesday at Volunteer Field.
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Compiled using team reports. Coaches can submit reports to sports@peninsuladailynews.com.
