High school district baseball, soccer roundup: W.F. West’s late rally stuns Tumwater

Tyler Wicke
·5 min read

FRIDAY (MAY 12)

BASEBALL

DISTRICT 4 2A CHAMPIONSHIP

W.F. WEST 11, TUMWATER 8

The Bearcats erased a six-run deficit -- primarily via hit batters and walks -- to upend Tumwater for the first time in four meetings with their longtime rivals this season.

W.F. West, in stunning fashion, is the District 4 2A baseball champion after an 11-8 victory over the T-Birds on Friday night at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreational Complex.

From the fourth inning on, the Bearcats logged only two hits, but managed nine more runs. Tumwater pitchers walked 12 total batters and hit five more; the T-Birds defense committed five errors.

Tumwater, the reigning 2A state champion, settles for a runner-up district finish. Both programs are on to the regional round of the state tournament on May 20.

Tumwater plated five runs in the first inning and stormed to a dramatic lead, featuring doubles by Alex Overbay and Kyler Collier.

W.F. West answered and scored twice in the first inning, then trailing by three. But their comeback truly materialized in the fourth. Tumwater committed a trio of errors that led to four Bearcat runs, encapsulated when Gavin Fugate scored on a dropped third-strike that stopped the bleeding.

In the fifth, Tumwater pitchers combined to plunk a batter and walk the next six, which plated two more W.F. West runs. Suddenly, the rivals were square at eight.

W.F. West center fielder Deacon Meller helped turn a crucial double play with a marvelous throw to third base to nab Tumwater’s Derek Thompson on a tag. The T-Birds placed two aboard and one out in the sixth inning, but Meller’s throw instantly nullified a potential rally.

W.F. West’s Jeron Martin and Deacon Meller drew bases-loaded walks in the bottom of the sixth, which earned the deciding lead. Two batters laters, Tumwater’s Derek Thompson later hit Bearcats shortstop Braden Jones to balloon the score to 11-8, the final.

The Bearcats plated their 11 runs on five total hits. Tumwater out-hit them, 7-5.

Fugate and Martin each drove in a pair of runs. Jones collected a team-best three RBI without logging a hit. Six Bearcats, in total, drove in a run.

Tumwater previously toppled W.F. West in three earlier meetings this season. The T-Birds blanked the Bearcats, 10-0, on April 21 and won again a day later, 5-2. On April 28, Tumwater took the third and final regular-season meeting between the rivals, 8-3.

Yet, in the end, W.F. West hoisted the district trophy.

Meller and Martin stole two bases apiece; W.F. West’s Lane Sahlin stole one. Meller drew a game-high three walks, to boot.

SATURDAY

BASEBALL

DISTRICT 2/3 2A CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 6 FIFE 3, No. 4 WHITE RIVER 1

Trojans starter Jack Erickson tantalized White River hitters Saturday afternoon, eventually going the distance for a complete game.

In what was Erickson’s first appearance longer than three innings all season, the Fife senior went the distance. He allowed just one run across seven frames and propelled the Trojans over White River in the District 2/3 2A championship game.

The sixth seed, Fife hoisted the trophy at Central Kitsap High School. Make it three games, three upsets for these Trojans in the district bracket.

“Right now, the way that they’re playing baseball is, just, playing to what we thought they should be playing throughout the whole season,” said Fife coach Shane Nixon.

Erickson’s lone earned run came in the seventh, when Fife held a three-run lead on the brink of a shutout. The win was Fife’s second that day, after the Trojans piled five runs in the final frame to upset No. 2 North Kitsap in the district semifinal, 6-2.

Fife’s run to glory in the district bracket began with a dramatic, 14-0 rout of No. 3 Highline on May 9, which secured a state berth. Senior starter Aiden Graham delivered a six-inning, one-run gem in the clinch game.

“(They) pitched great,” Nixon said. “When we decided just not to go with our best (number) one and two pitchers, to have those guys step up in that big spot was awesome for us.”

Fife’s championship win over White River avenged a pair of regular-season losses to the Hornets on Apr. 3 and Apr. 19. Both programs are on to the regional round of the state tournament on May 20. Seeding for that bracket will be announced Sunday morning.

BOYS SOCCER

DISTRICT 2/3 2A CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 2 NORTH KITSAP 1, No. 1 FRANKLIN PIERCE 0 (PK)

Down go the top-ranked Cardinals.

North Kitsap upended Franklin Pierce’s perfect season on Saturday and hoisted the District 2/3 2A trophy at Olympic High School. It took 100 minutes of scoreless soccer — and nine more rounds of penalty kicks — before the Vikings proved victorious. North Kitsap’s seventh penalty score cinched it.

North Kitsap (16-1-1) continues a terrorizing run, now winners of 16 straight. The Vikings drew and lost their first pair of matches on March 11 and 14, respectively, and are unblemished since.

Franklin Pierce (16-1-2) was previously unbeaten in 18 contests this season.

Both programs are on to state, hosted by the WIAA at Renton Memorial Stadium from May 26-27.