The loss ends the Bears’ season at 18-7. Olympia was the 4A Narrows League champion, league tournament champion and advanced to the 4A regional for the third time in four years.
“We had a really good run,” Olympia coach Todd McDougall said. “We played our best baseball toward the end. It was a great year for us and it’s something to build on.”
Redmond got to Olympia starter Brady Batt early, scoring three runs in the first inning to take a quick 3-0 lead. In the third, with Redmond leading 4-1, Olympia’s Cameron Frost led off the inning with a triple, and later scored on a sacrifice fly to cut the Bears’ deficit to 4-2.
But the Mustangs blew open the game over the next three innings, including a pair of three-run home runs by Dylan Davis and Zachary Abbruzza, who leads the team with a .458 batting average. Seven of the team’s 15 runs came by home runs. Abbruzza also picked up the win on the mound, allowing two runs in six innings pitched.
“We knew we had to play really well to beat them” McDougall said. “They were able to do some damage.”
One of the Bears’ bright spots was the 1-2-3 seventh inning by senior Bjorn Slater, who made his season debut. Slater, who was projected to be Olympia’s No. 1 starter this season, has been out with a torn ligament in his elbow, and was cleared to play catch three weeks ago.
“It was good to get him back on the mound, and good to see him out there,” McDougall said.
3A REGIONAL
Mount Si 4, Timberline 2: Despite a two-run early lead, errors doomed the Blazers and led to Mount Si’s rally in a 3A regional loss to the Wildcats at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue. The loss ends Timberline’s season at 20-4.
Timberline got on the scoreboard first, scoring two runs in the second inning. David Padilla and Robbie Ortiz both scored in the inning to give the Blazers an early 2-0 lead. Ben Smith was 2-for-3 and Ortiz was 1-for-3 with a run scored. Together they accounted for three of the Blazers’ four hits.
Timberline starter Charlie Hinson gave up four runs –one earned – on two hits and struck out four in four innings pitched before Chase Wasson came on in relief. But in the third inning, Mount Si mounted its comeback.
The Wildcats, thanks to two Blazers errors and clutch hitting, took the lead for good at 4-2. Ryan Atkinson drilled a two-run home run to left field scoring Reece Karalus, who reached base on an error. Following another error with two outs, Mount Si starter Trevor Lane helped his cause with an RBI double to give the Wildcats the go-ahead runs.
Lane threw a complete-game four-hitter and retired 14 straight batters during one stretch. Timberline and Mount Si combined for seven hits.
Tenino to state semifinals: Tenino will play in its first state semifinal since 1998 after the Beavers, the No. 5 seed from the District IV, defeated Kiona Benton, 7-0 (9 innings) and Zillah, 8-4 to win the Moses Lake regional.
Tenino (17-7), which finished third in the SWW 1A Evergreen standings behind Rochester and Montesano, faces Meridian at 10 a.m. next Friday at County Stadium in Yakima.
Tenino opened with a wild win over Kiona Benton, scoring all seven of its runs in the top of the ninth inning despite striking out 16 times. In the regional title game, clutch hitting and small ball won it for the Beavers against Zillah. A three-RBI triple by Ryan Schlesser keyed a four-run first inning for Tenino. Devonte Harris was 2-for-3 and scored twice – in the fourth and six innings – to give Tenino some insurance runs and an 8-3 lead after the sixth.
Rochester ousted: The Warriors, champions of the SWW 1A Evergreen Division, defeated Cascade Christian, 8-3, led by Chris Bishop’s 2-for-3 performance, but fell to Chimacum, 3-0, in the 1A Castle Rock regional title game.
Rochester was held to one hit against the Cowboys. Chimacum made it to the title game by topping Rainier, 6-3.
Chehalis-Kingston postponed: Because of rain in Lewis County, the Chehalis-Kingston 2A regional final will be played Monday afternoon at Bearcat Stadium in Chehalis. Chehalis beat Franklin Pierce, 10-3, and Kingston defeated Mark Morris, 8-0, to reach the title game. In the Yelm regional, Lindbergh knocked out Centralia, 2-1.
