2B District IV Tournament
Ocosta 13, Winlock 7
Kaylee Barnum blasted two home runs as the Ocosta Wildcats staved off elimination and qualified for the state tournament with a 13-7 victory in the consolation bracket of the 2B District IV Tournament on Friday in Centralia.
Barnum led off the top of the third inning with a home run to center to give Ocosta (12-10) a 4-1 lead. In the sixth, the senior shortstop drove a 3-1 pitch over the right-field fence for a two-run blast that gave Ocosta an 11-6 lead.
Barnum said she knew she couldn’t look to pull with Winlock starting pitcher Jenna Jones working the outside corner.
“Being a known power hitter, I kind of knew she was going to throw me outside,” she said. “I just tried to get closer to the plate so I could just take the ball to the opposite field.”
Barnum wasn’t the only Wildcats player to break out the big bat on Friday as Ryann Raffelson homered to center field in the fourth inning.
Nine of Ocosta’s 16 hits went for extra bases.
The Wildcats also benefited from Winlock miscues. The Cardinals (15-7) committed six errors in the game, leading to six unearned runs for Ocosta.
In addition to working through some defensive mistakes, Wildcats starting pitcher Mekenna Fletcher said adjusting the strike zone presented some challenges early on.
“He wasn’t really calling the outside corner so I had go inside to try to get (the umpire) to call strikes,” she said.
Ocosta trailed 6-4 after Winlock scored five runs of Fletcher in the third inning. But Ocosta, which scored a run in every inning of the game, outscored the Cardinals 9-1 over he final four innings, including four runs in the fifth.
Barnum finished the game going 4-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI.
Ocosta players celebrate after recording the final out to defeat Winlock 13-7 in Friday’s 2B District IV Tournament consolation-bracket game. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Wildcats head coach Jason Barnum said he’s proud of his players for making it to state for the third year in a row and fighting through adversity when things didn’t go their way early in the year.
“This year was huge for us. We had some adversity at the beginning of the season and the girls just kept fighting,” he said. “We do all the extra things we have to do to be a good team and the girls were just awesome. I’m proud of them.”
The victory moves Ocosta into the consolation semifinals, where they’ll face Toutle Lake at 2 p.m. on Saturday, with a spot in the district third-place game on the line.
Ocosta 121 142 2 — 13 16 1
Winlock 105 000 1 — 7 8 6
WP — Fletcher (7 IP, 7 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 5 K, 3 BB); LP — Jenna Jones (7 IP, 13 R, 7 ER, 16 H, 2 K, BB)
Top Players: Ocosta — K. Barnum (4-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI); R. Raffelson (2-4, HR, 3 R, RBI); Emily Snider (2-4, 2B, 2 R): Evalyn Marsh (2-5, 2B, 3B, R, RBI); Fletcher (2-4, 2B, R, RBI); Kristi Raffelson (1-4, 2B, R, RBI); Lillyan Barnum (1-5, R); Kianna Battiste (1-3, 2B, R). Winlock — Raychel Squibb (3-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI)
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
PWV’s Kamryn Adkins hits a home run during the Titans’ 13-1 rout of Toutle Lake in the 2B District IV semifinals on Friday in Centralia. PWV faces Adna in the district championship game at 6 p.m. on Saturday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley 13, Toutle Lake 1
Kamryn Adkins’ power was on full display as the Titans stamped their ticket to the state tournament with a 13-1 win over Toutle Lake on Friday at Borst Park in Centralia.
With the victory, Pe Ell-Willapa Valley (18-4) advanced to the 2B District Tournament final where it will face Adna at 2 p.m for a chance to go into the state tournament as the first seed from District IV.
Toutle Lake (17-5) was sent to the consolation bracket with the loss and will face Ocosta for state tournament seeding on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Centralia at Borst Park.
The Titans didn’t waste any time putting runs on the board in the first inning thanks to a three-run bomb from Adkins that put the Titans up 3-0.
Adkins added another homer to her stat line with a two-run blast to center field. Adkins’ second long ball of the day highlighted a six-run third inning that helped the Titans’ lead balloon to 11-0.
Adkins credits extra time spent working on her swing mechanics as the driving force behind her big game.
“I’ve been putting a lot of time in the cage and it really paid off today,” she said. “It wasn’t anything (the pitcher) was doing, I was just able to time her up.”
PWV’s Olivia Matlock had more than enough run support to secure the victory in the circle, surrendering just one run and striking out six in five innings of work.
The start was Matlock’s first appearance of the district tournament after Adkins pitched in Wednesday’s win over Morton-White Pass.
Titans head coach Ken Olson said he’s been impressed by both his pitchers, which makes selecting a pitcher for Saturday’s game a difficult task.
“We’ll have to talk it over to see who we throw tomorrow,” he said. “They’re both throwing well right now, so we’re in good shape. We just have to sit down and figure it out.”
Adna is a familiar foe for the Titans as the two teams played on March 20. The Pirates took the game 5-1 after PWV allowed three runs in the second inning.
Olson said his team should be able to play at a higher level now than it did during its first meeting with Adna.
“We weren’t as strong defensively and I think we’re a better defensive team right now,” he said. “We’re hitting the ball better than we were at that time of the year. We’ll see how we compete and I think we’ll compete hard.”
Adkins also thinks her team will be ready, saying that they have shaken off some of the inconsistent play that plagued them in March.
“We started off the season really sluggish and really slow, but I think all of us are picking it up and finding our confidence,” she said. “We’re playing for our seniors and we’re hoping to take the big game tomorrow.”
PWV 326 02 – 13 15 0
Toutle Lake – 001 00 – 1 3 4
WP – Olivia Matlock (6 K, 2 BB, ER); LP – Kaylee Florek (K, 11 ER, 0 BB)
Top Hitters: PWV – Kamryn Adkins (6 RBI, 2 HR, 3 R), Katie Adkins (3-3, 2 RBI) Britney Patrick (2-3, R, SB)
2A District IV Tournament
Woodland 6, Aberdeen 0
Woodland starting pitcher Liv Grey was too much for Aberdeen to handle as the Bobcats struck out 17 times on their way to a 6-0 defeat on Friday at the 2A District IV Tournament in Longview.
Aberdeen (9-11) kept the game close early and was down 1-0 entering the forth frame.
Woodland (21-0) blew the game open with a three-run homer from Peyton Foster that chased Bobcats starting pitcher Jalyn McDaniel from the game and gave the Beavers a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning.
Kacie Powell limited the damage in relief, but Aberdeen’s bats stayed quiet as one Bobcats runner reached scoring position the remainder of the game.
“It was a pitching duel for a while, but then they just opened up the game,” Aberdeen head coach Scott Wilson said. “Both pitchers pitched well, we just couldn’t get anything going offensively.”
Aberdeen 000 000 0 – 0 2 4
Woodland 001 401 x – 6 8 0
WP – Grey (17 K, 2 H, 2 BB); LP – McDaniel (7 H, 3 ER, 2 K)
Top Hitters: Woodland – Kaily Christensen (2-4, HR, 3 RBI), Payten Foster (HR, 3 RBI)
Aberdeen 11, Hockinson 10
Instead of getting a walk-off hit in extra innings, Allye Toseth got hit with the bases loaded to give Aberdeen the 11-10 win over Hockinson in the 2A District IV Tournament consolation game on Friday.
Aberdeen won a see-saw battle over the Hawks (14-7) by scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth after giving up three runs in the top of the inning.
The game-winning rally also featured a bases-loaded single from Sierra Hammond, who had three hits on the day.
Aberdeen head coach Scott Wilson said the win signifies a step forward for his team and the program overall.
“It was huge. It was the first time they’ve won a district game in seven years, so this was a big win for our kids,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of all of them. We’re a scrappy little group that has the fight we’ve been after for years, so it’s nice to see them not give up.”
Aberdeen will play in another consolation game against WF West at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Longview. The winner of the contest will qualify for the state tournament.
Hockinson 100 301 113 – 10 16 4
Aberdeen 400 020 014 – 11 12 2
WP – Jayln McDaniel (9 IP, 8 ER, 6 K, 5 BB); LP – Abby Runyon (12 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 6 K)
Top Hitters: Aberdeen – Hammond (3-6, RBI), Troseth (3-5, 2 RBI, 2B), Logan Glanz (2 RBI) Powell (2 RBI); Hockinson – Jenna Remenar (5-6, 2 2B, 3B, 4 RBI), Ashley King (3-5)
