PREP BASEBALL
Montesano 6, Hoquiam 2
Montesano was powered by Parker Plato’s big day at the plate as the catcher drove in three runs in Montesano’s 6-2 win over Hoquiam in Montesano.
All of Plato’s RBI came in the form of a three-run homer he pulled down the left-field line in the sixth inning that gave the Bulldogs (18-2 overall, 12-0 Evergreen 1A) a 6-0 lead in the sixth inning.
Plato saw four pitches prior to hitting his round tripper and said he had seen enough to get his timing down on Hoquiam pitcher Alex Reyes.
“I was deep in the count. I was timing up the pitches and ended up connecting on a good one,” he said.
Montesano head coach Mike Osgood said he has enjoyed coaching a team that has a handful of players capable of going deep.
“We have five guys with home runs for us and its been all over our lineup,” he said. “The guys just have fun hitting, they’re loose, relaxed and (the power) is nothing we’re trying to teach. We just have some good hitters right now.”
Plato’s three-run bomb ended up providing some important insurance runs when Hoquiam attempted to mount a comeback in the top of the seventh.
Montesano’s Parker Plato high fives head coach Mike Osgood after hitting a home run in the sixth inning against Hoquiam on Friday. Plato had four RBI in Monte’s 6-2 win over Hoquiam. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Camden Templer drove in Hoquiam’s first run of the day with an RBI groundout and the Grizzlies (12-7, 8-4) picked up another run in the frame when an infield error allowed Joel Emery to score.
Liam Odell represented the tying run when he came up to bat with the bases loaded, but Monte pitcher Evan Bates put an end to the rally by striking out Odell on a fastball low in the zone to end the game.
Before the game got tense in the final frame, Montesano quickly jumped out to a lead in the bottom of the first. Bates drove in the first run of the game with a double that plated Plato. Payson Parker followed with a double of his own that drove in Bates to give Montesano a 2-0 lead after one inning of play.
Hoquiam’s Zach Elesos struggled a bit on the mound, giving up three runs in two innings of work.
Despite a turbulent start, Hoquiam head coach Steve Jump said he expects Elsos to be fine once he regains confidence in his breaking ball.
“Zach Elsos is fine. He needs to understand that he’s seen Monte three times now and they are a good hitting team,” he said. “If he would have mixed in his curveball a little bit in the early part of the inning, he would have been fine. No one in this league can rely on just fastballs.”
Montesano’s Payson Parker tosses the ball to first to put out Hoquiam’s Troy McMinn on Friday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
The third matchup between the Bulldogs and Grizzlies is the final regular season game of the year before both teams head into the District IV Playoffs on Monday.
Hoquiam and Montesano will both play the first game of districts on Monday at Olympic Stadium in Hoquiam.
The Grizzlies will take on King’s Way Christian at 4 p.m. After that Montesano will take the field against Castle Rock in a game that is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Both team went to the bullpen early to keep arms fresh for the post season with Hoquiam using three arms to get through seven games and Montesano using four hurlers.
Plato served as the battery mate for all four pitchers and thinks the Bulldogs have the arms to make a postseason run.
“All of our pitchers hit the spots and were consistent,” he said. “Since we’re getting ready for districts that was huge.”
Hoquiam 000 000 2 – 2 7 0
Montesano 210 030 x – 6 8 1
WP – Parker (3 IP, 2 H, K, 0 BB); LP – Elsos (2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, K)
Top Hitters: Montesano – Plato (2-3, 3 RBI, HR), Braden Dohrmann (2-2, 2B, R), Aaron Lano (2-2, 2B, BB, RBI); Hoquiam – Payton Quintanilla (2-4), Joel Emery (2B)
PREP SOCCER
Elma 2, Forks 1 (Elma wins shootout 5-4)
Elma pulled off the upset in dramatic fashion in a game that came down to a penalty-kick shootout as the Eagles beat Forks on Friday.
Elma (10-5-1, 9-3 Evergreen 1A) pulled out the win by edging the shootout 5-4. Eagles keeper AJ Hernandez came up with a pivotal save in the Spartans’ fourth PK shootout attempt by diving to his left to keep the ball out of the net.
Rodrigo Luna sealed the deal for the Eagles by converting on the fifth penalty kick to give Elma the win and move the team into second place in the league standings.
Forks started off the scoring early in the 12th minute of the match off of a corner kick. The Spartans crashed the net and put away the first goal of the game with traffic in front.
Elma tied the game in the 30th minute when Canon Seaberg took a free kick and sent the ball around the wall to an open Manny Hernandez, who scored the close-range goal to tie the game.
Forks (11-3, 10-1)played its starters for the entire match despite being locked into first place regardless of the outcome of the match.
Elma head coach Carson Seaberg said winning a close game against a talented team that played its best players should build momentum ahead of the postseason.
“Overall, we played really hard, Forks played really hard, it was great they played hard all the way through and hopefully it gives us confidence going into district play,” he said.
Elma will start the District IV Playoffs at home against Columbia-White Salmon on Monday at 6 p.m.
Elma 1 0 0 – 1
Forks 1 0 0 – 1
Top Players: Elma — Manny Hernandez (G, 30th minute), Cannon Seaberg (A)
Penalty Kick scorers: Elma – Aiden Sayers-Hartman, Manny Hernandez, AJ Hernandez, Cannon Seaberg, Rodrigo Luna
PREP SOFTBALL
Centralia 15, Aberdeen 13
Aberdeen went into the seventh inning down by nine and nearly completed the improbable comeback but ultimately fell short in a 15-13 loss on the road to Centralia on Friday.
The loss knocked the Bobcats (8-8, 6-7 Evergreen 2A) down to fourth place in the league standings while Centralia (9-8, 6-7) takes sole possession of third place.
The Bobcats found themselves down 2-0 in the top of the second and responded with six runs in the frame to temporarily take the lead.
The lead was short lived, however, as Centralia responded with a six-run inning of its own to go up 8-6. The Tigers took advantage of some defensive mistakes as Aberdeen committed four errors in the frame.
“If we clean things up defensively and get a couple of key hits, it’s a different game. It is what it is and we just have to move on,” Aberdeen head coach Scott Wilson said.
Hitting wasn’t a problem for the Bobcats as Hailey Wilson drove in three runs and Brooklyn LeCompte launched a three-run homer in the six-run seventh.
Aberdeen will need to win both of its remaining games and hope for Centralia to drop one of its two last games in order to to reclaim third place.
The Bobcats’ next matchup is against league-leading WF West on the road at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Aberdeen 060 003 4 – 13 16 6
Centralia 260 241 x – 15 18 5
WP – Kenzie Ulrich (13 ER, 13 K, 6 BB); LP – Kacie Powell (4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB)
Top Hitters: Centralia – Courtney Spriggs (3-5, HR, 4 RBI), Jadyn Hawley (2-5, HR, 4 RBI); Aberdeen – Wilson (3-5, 3 RBI), LeCompte (3 R HR)
Ocosta 14, Onalaska 6
A big second inning springboarded the Ocosta Wildcats to a 14-6 non-league victory over Onalaska on Friday in Westport.
Ocosta (11-7, 10-2 Pacific 2B) scored nine runs in a second inning that included a bases-loaded triple by Kaylee Barnum and a two-run home run off the bat of Kristi Raffelson.
With the score 10-1, Onalaska (13-6) climbed back into the game with a five-run sixth inning. The Loggers’ Alex Cleveland belted a three-run home run to make it a 10-4 ballgame and Onalaska cut the lead to 10-6 on a two-run error later in the inning.
But the Wildcats responded with four runs in the bottom half of the sixth, highlighted by Lillyan Barnum’s sacrifice fly and a run-scoring double from Kiana Battiste.
Mekenna Fletcher picked up the victory for Onalaska, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts in pitching a complete game.
Ocosta takes on Elma at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in Elma.
Onalaska 001 005 0 — 6 8 3
Ocosta 091 004 x— 14 8 5
WP — Fletcher (7 IP, 6 R, 4 ER, 8 H, 8 K, 2 BB); LP — Raelee Holmes (6 IP, 14 R, 9 ER, 8 H, 4 K, 6 BB)
Top Players: Ocosta — Battiste (2-3, 2B, R, RBI); Fletcher (2-4, R); Raffelson (1-1, 2R HR, R, 2 RBI); Kaylee Barnum (1-2, 3B, R, 3 RBI); L. Barnum (0-3, R, 3 RBI). Onalaska — Cleveland (2-4, 3R HR, R, 3 RBI)
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
PWV 20, Hoquiam 2
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley’s offense was in peak performance on Friday in a 20-2 victory over the Hoquiam Grizzlies in Hoquiam.
PWV junior Britney Patrick hit a grand slam home run in the fourth inning and had several players with multiple hits in the game.
Kamryn Adkins and Katelyn McGough head three hits apiece, the former knocking in three runs and the latter with a double and three RBI.
Olivia Matlock earned the victory for the Titans (16-2, 12-0 Pacific 2B), allowing two runs on three hits with three strikeouts in the three-inning game.
Kylee Bagwell had a double for Hoquiam (6-7, 3-4 Evergreen 1A).
Hoquiam takes on Raymond in a non-league match at 4 p.m. on Monday in Raymond.
PWV faces Montesano at 4 p.m. on Monday at Montesano High School.
PWV 668 — 20 12 0
Hoquiam 002 — 2 3 3
WP — Matlock (3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 3 K); LP — N/A
Top Players: PWV — Kam. Adkins (3-4, 3 RBI); McGough (3-3, 2B, 3 RBI); Grace Hodel (2-3, 2B); Patrick (GS). Hoquiam — Bagwell (2B).
PREP BASEBALL
Elma 4, Tenino 2
Elma junior Brady Shriver’s RBI single broke a tie ballgame as the Eagles came from behind to defeat Tenino 4-2 on Friday at Ventron Field in Elma.
In the top of the fourth inning, Tenino (7-12, 5-7 Evergreen 1A) took a 2-0 lead on a fielder’s choice ground out by Blake Gubbe followed by a run-scoring error one batter later.
An inning later, Elma (5-14, 2-10 Evergreen 1A) rallied to tie the game. Shriver, who was aboard with a leadoff single, scored on a wild pitch for Elma’s first run. The Eagles tied the game when Carter Jacobson hit a line-drive single to left field, scoring pinch runner Brett Palmer with the tying run.
In the bottom of the sixth, Elma got the first two runners aboard on a dropped third strike followed by an error. After a Brady Johnston pop out, Shriver singled to score Noah Huttula to give Elma a 3-2 lead.
The Eagles scored an insurance run one batter later as Brody Rustemeyer drove home AJ Whipple with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Shriver, who started on the mound for Elma, got two quick outs in the top of the seventh before an error brought the tying run to the plate. But Shriver got Logan Brewer to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game.
Shriver picked up the win, allowing one earned run on just one hit with four strikeouts and two walks.
Elma’s eight game losing streak came to an end with Friday’s season-finale.
Tenino 000 200 0 — 2 1 5
Elma 000 022 x — 4 10 4
WP — Shriver (7 IP, 2 R, ER, H, 4 K, 2 BB); LP — Kyan Deoskey (IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 H, K)
Top Players: Elma — Shriver (3-4, R, RBI); Rustemeyer (2-3, RBI); Jacobson (1-3, RBI); Huttula (1-3, R)
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
PREP TRACK & FIELD
Results from Spudder Classic
Several top Twin Harbors area track and field athletes competed at the Spudder Track and Field Classic at Ridgefield High School on Friday.
North Beach’s Lorin Cox had arguably her best performance of the season, running personal-best times to win both the 100- (12.54) and 200-meter sprints (26.48).
Elma girls hurdler Jillian Bieker also turned in a personal-record time, winning the 100-meter hurdles with a PR time of 15.21. She followed up that performance by taking the top spot in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 49.45.
Bieker also anchored the Eagles’ 4×200 relay team (Jayla Mason, Tatiana Freeman, Maddi Clark, Bieker) that took first with a time of 1:48.73, beating rival Montesano (Madolyn Olson, Cori Fritts, Jaiden Morrison, Alma Muro 1:50.00) by less than two seconds.
Elma’s girls team placed second in the team standings with 75 points behind first-place Washougal (88).
Elma also had the only local athlete to win in the boys competition when Cody Vollan took first in the 400 wiht a time of 50.53.
Elma’s boys team placed fourth (40) followed by Hoquiam (35) in fifth place.
For full meet coverage, visit athletic.net/TrackAndField/MeetResults.aspx?Meet=358719&show=all.
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
