Aberdeen missed a chance to compete for the district title after a loss in the semifinal round of the 2A District 4 Tournament on Thursday at Recreation Park in Chehalis.
2A District 4 Semifinal
Centralia 7, Aberdeen 2
Aberdeen missed an opportunity to secure a spot in the district championship and a state-playoff berth with a 7-2 loss to Centralia in the district-semifinals on Thursday at Recreation Park in Chehalis.
Aberdeen (13-8 overall) and Centralia (13-7) were locked in a scoreless ballgame through the first two innings before Bobcats errors and mistakes began to take a toll.
With one out and a runner on second base, an errant Aberdeen throw on a sacrifice bunt allowed Gracie Schofield to score the first run of the game.
One batter later, Lauren Wasson scored on a second-consecutive Bobcats error to put Centralia up 2-0.
Jimena Luis was then hit by a pitch by Aberdeen starter Lilly Camp, and Makayla Chavez made the Bobcats pay for their mistakes with a two-run single to put the Tigers up 4-0.
In the third, Camp ran into trouble with two straight walks with one out. Wasson then doubled to left to put Centralia up 6-0.
Aberdeen showed some life in the fourth when Laynie Yakovich and Alyssa Yakovich reached on back-to-back singles to start the inning.
With one out, Zoe Vessey reached on a bunt to load the bases. Shyanna Patrick then singled to chase home Laynie Yakovich for the Bobcats first run of the game.
Third baseman Britten Neal followed with Aberdeen’s fifth single of the inning, scoring Vessey, but miscommunication on the base paths caused courtesy-runner Ryan Spencer to be thrown out at home, sapping any momentum the Bobcats had been building. Centralia pitcher Hollyn Wakefield struck out Abby Mainio to record the third out of the inning and end the Aberdeen rally.
A throwing error in the sixth gave Centralia an extra out to play with, and once again, the Tigers took advantage. Luis singled with two outs to score Wasson – who reached on the error – to cash in Centralia’s fifth unearned run of the game.
Aberdeen’s defense committed six errors in the game.
“When the runs went up on the board, it’s like we checked out and couldn’t get it back together. It was one error after another,” Aberdeen head coach Jimmy McDaniel said. “I think they mentally folded when they saw runs go up on the board for Centralia. They had the hopes of winning two and playing in that championship game, but I just think mentally, we folded and beat ourselves.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Alyssa Yakovich drives a pitch to the outfield during a 7-2 loss to Centralia in a 2A District 4 semifinal game on Thursday in Chehalis.
McDaniel added his 2A Evergreen League champs are “capable of beating anybody in this tournament,” but they will have to clean things up first.
“Unfortunately, you don’t get many chances at districts,” he said. “They are a young bunch, but these girls have been playing together for quite a long time. They’ve battled through adversity. The last time we played Centralia, they battled back and pulled out a win. They just couldn’t string the hits together. We had three runs out of 14 innings and that’s not going to cut it here. Not getting runs on the board, the simple errors and simple mistakes hurt us, badly. … We got a lot of ground outs. We got on top of the ball and gave them easy outs. We gave this game to them.”
While the hopes of a district-title have been dashed, Aberdeen still has plenty to play for. The Bobcats will face W.F. West in a winner-to-state, loser-out game at 4 p.m. on Friday in Chehalis.
McDaniel said he’s hoping a team talk after the semifinal loss did his team some good.
“We had a good talk at the end of this game, with our mindset and what got us here and how that seemed to disappear this game. I am hoping that they go home and think about this and comeback ready to play for each other tomorrow and take this team to state,” he said. “They are well-deserving of being there, it’s just a matter if they are going to take it and run with it or not. It’s all on them.”
Centralia 004 201 0 – 7 8 0
Aberdeen 000 200 0 – 2 9 6
WP: Wakefield (7 IP, 2 ER, 9 H, 8 K). LP: Camp (7 IP, 7 R, 2 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 8 K).
Leading hitters: Centralia – Luis (2-3, R, RBI); Chavez (2-4, 2 RBI); Wasson (1-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI); Schofield (1-3, 2 R); Babka (1-3). Aberdeen – Scott (2-4); L. Yakovich (2-3, R); Vessey (2-3, R); A. Yakovich (1-3); Patrick (1-3, RBI); Neal (1-3, RBI).
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen pitcher Lilly Camp allowed one hit in pitching a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 win over Columbia River in the 2A District 4 quarterfinals on Thursday in Chehalis.
2A District 4 Quarterfinal
Aberdeen 1, Columbia River 0
Aberdeen starting pitcher Lilly Camp was dominant in a 1-0 victory over Columbia River in a 2A District 4 quarterfinal game on Thursday at Recreation Park in Chehalis.
Camp stymied the Rapids (10-8), allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out 14 in tossing a seven-inning shutout.
The Bobcats sophomore right-hander struck out six of the first seven batters she faced and gave up a single to Hailey Fradenburg with one out in the top of the third for Columbia River’s only base hit of the game.
Aberdeen scored the lone run of the game in the bottom of the fourth after second baseman Aili Scott led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out by Laynie Yakovich. Alyssa Yakovich then drove Scott home with a line-drive single to center field.
Camp did the rest, striking out the final six batters she faced and allowed just one walk over the final four innings to pick up the win.
Alyssa Yakovich led the way for Aberdeen’s offense, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Columbia River 000 000 0 – 0 1 0
Aberdeen 000 100 x – 1 5 1
WP: Camp (7 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 14 K). LP: Lew (6 IP, ER, 5 H, 3 K).
Leading hitters: CR – Fradenburg (1-2). Aberdeen – A. Yakovich (2-3, RBI); Scott (1-3, R); Camp (1-3, 2B); Neal (1-2).
