UPDATE: Games have been rescheduled to Saturday due to weather.
1A District IV Tournament
First Round
Montesano 10, Tenino 0
The 2nd-ranked Bulldogs opened district tournament play with a 10-0 rout over Tenino on Wednesday afternoon.
Monte starting pitcher Lindsay Pace dominated on both offense and defense. Pace went 3-for-4 at the dish with a two-run double, a two-run home runs and five RBI as the Bulldogs offense pounded 13 hits against Tenino pitcher Emily Baxter.
Pace shut down the Beavers offense, allowing just one hit while striking out 14 in throwing a six-inning shutout.
Katie Granstrom also homered for Monte (17-4) while Matti Ekerson went a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs scored for the Bulldogs.
Tenino 000 000 — 0 1 2
Montesano 004 204 — 10 13 0
WP — Pace (6 IP, 0 R, H, 14 K, 2 BB); LP — Baxter (5.1 IP, 10 R, 8 ER, 13 H, 6 K, BB)
Top Players: Montesano — Ekerson (4-4, 3 R); Pace (3-4, 2B, 2R HR, R, 5 RBI); Granstrom (2-4, HR, 2 R, RBI); Jessica Stanfield (1-3, 2B, RBI); Emma Jensen (1-3, 2B, R, RBI); Abi Parkin (1-4, RBI); Janessa Otterstetter (1-3, 2B). Tenino — Autumn Long (1-3)
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Elma 12, King’s Way Christian 0
Elma got the bats working in the second inning and cruised to 12-0 win over King’s Way Christian in the first round of the 1A District IV Tournament Wednesday in Centralia.
Elma (19-1) took advantage of three errors in the first inning to score its first two runs and piled it on in the second inning by plating another five runners. The Eagles’ Destry Dineen and Olivia Cain both drove in a run a piece with singles in the frame.
Elma head coach Roger Elliot said he was pleased that his batters stepped up after what he felt was a slow start.
“We started off slow and in the second inning I felt we hit the ball a lot better,” he said. “There were a couple of walks mixed in there, but I felt we hit the ball a lot better in the second, third and fourth innings.
King’s Way Christian 000 00 – 0 2 4
Elma 250 5x – 12 9 0
WP – Destry Dineen (2 IP, 0 H, BB); LP – Nelson (4 IP, 9 ER, 2 K)
Top Hitters: Elma – Dineen (3-3, 3 RBI), Mikel (2-3,3 R, SB, RBI)
— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group
Elma catcher Olivia Cain, left, tags out a Castle Rock runner during the fourth inning of Elma’s 3-1 rain-shortened loss in the 1A District IV Tournament on Wednesday at Borst Park in Centralia. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Castle Rock 3, Elma 1 (5 inn.)
Elma’s following took place against Castle Rock and was called after four and a half innings of play due to rain.
Castle Rock had a 3-1 lead at the time the game was postponed due to rain.
The game was later ruled official by tournament administrators since Elma had completed its at-bat in the fifth frame.
The Eagles will take on the winner of the Tenino-Hoquiam consolation game on Saturday (subject to change).
— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group
Hoquiam’s Hailey Lawrence singles in the third inning against La Center in Wednesday’s 1A District IV Tournament game in Centralia. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
La Center 5, Hoquiam 4
Hoquiam hit the ball hard but couldn’t find enough gaps in the defense to complete the comeback in a 5-4 loss to La Center in the opening round of the 1A District IV Tournament.
Hoquiam (9-8) got its first runs of the day with an RBI double from Charli Eastman and an RBI single from Abby Spradlin to go up 2-0 in the bottom.
La Center (8-14) tied the game with a two-run blast from Katie Steward and the Wildcats added another pair of runs in the third inning to go up 4-2.
The Grizzlies ended up with five hits in the game, but Hoquiam head coach Kieth Reynvaan thinks his hitters could have had more had it not been for some bad luck.
“We played very good defense, but they found some holes and we didn’t,” he said. “We hit the ball hard but we kept hitting it right at them.”
Hoquiam still had a chance to tie the game late with Jade Cox at second base and nobody out, but La Center recorded the next three outs in a row to get out of the jam.
Hoquiam’s consolation game against Tenino later that evening was rained out and will resume on Saturday at 10 a.m. (time subject to change).
Hoquiam 200 0011 – 4 5 0
La Center 022 001x – 5 7 0
WP – Aquinnah Wiseman (3 K, 4 ER, 3BB); LP Tauni Hilliard (5 ER, K, BB)
Top Players: La Center – Steward (2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R); Hoquiam – Eastman (RBI, R), Spradlin (RBI)
— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group
Quarterfinal Round
Montesano 16, La Center 0
Montesano wasted little time punching its ticket to the district championship game, scoring 15 runs in the first two innings to rout La Center 16-0 in the 1A District IV semifinals on Wednesday afternoon.
Senior Katie Granstrom got Monte started off with a bang, belting a leadoff home run over the center-field fence in the top of the first inning.
The Bulldogs offense snowballed from there, scoring nine runs in the frame as Monte’s first seven batters reached base, six via base hits.
Monte continued the offensive onslaught in the second, scoring six runs and taking a 15-0 lead on Emma Jensen’s RBI single.
Janessa Otterstetter’s solo home run in the third put the Bulldogs up 16-0.
Lindsay Pace earned her second victory of the day in the circle, allowing two hits in three innings pitched while striking out seven.
Monte advances to the district championship game with the victory. The Bulldogs will have to wait to find out its opponent as the semifinal game between Castle Rock and Elma was postponed due to rain with Castle Rock leading 3-1 in the fifth inning.
The district championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday at Borst Park, Centralia (time subject to change).
Montesano 961 — 16 12 1
La Center 000 — 0 2 2
WP — Pace (3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 7 K); LP — Madison Osborne (1.1 IP, 14 R, 13 ER, 9 H, K, 3 BB)
Top Players: Montesano — Ekerson (3-3, 2 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI); Otterstetter (2-2, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI); Parkin (2-2, RBI); Granstrom (2-3, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI); Jensen (2-3, 2B, R, RBI); Pace (1-3, RBI). La Center — Aquinnah Wiseman (1-1); Ashley Loucks (1-1)
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
