Sequim Gazette staff
After losing their first two contests to be eliminated from championship contention at the American Legion AA State Tournament in July, the Olympic Crosscutters rebounded with a win in their final pool play game.
The Cutters came away with a 14-10 win against Lake Stevens on July 25 to wrap their season on a positive note.
Olympic opened with a seven-run first inning and grew its lead to 11-2 before withstanding Lake Stevens’ eight-run fourth inning. Crosscutter pitcher Lane Dotson surrendered nine runs, though only two were earned.
Reliever Jake Sparks came on and allowed no runs on no hits in his 3-and-one-third innings of work and Olympic’s offense added three insurances runs.
Sequim’s Justin Porter tripled, scored twice and brought in two more runs for the Cutters. Logan Shaw finished 2-for-4 with two doubles, Matt Bainbridge had four RBIs and two steals and Dotson added a triple as part of a 14-hit attack.
In the state tourney opener on July 23, Olympic dropped a 6-2 decision to Burlington-Edison. Cole Dotson tossed a complete game and gave up just three earned runs. Lane Dotson had a double and finished 2-for-3 with an RBI. Porter added two hits.
The Crosscutters fell 10-6 to Montesano on July 24 despite jumping out to a 6-1 lead after two innings.
Porter paced the Cutter offense with two doubles and three RBIs. Sequim’s Gavin Velarde had two hits while teammates Logan Shaw and Ben Bruner had two hits each.
In the second game on July 24, Mount Spokane edged ahead in a low-scoring affair in the seventh inning and held on for a 3-2 win. Lane Dotson had two doubles, Rweha Munyagi tripled and Joel Wood added a pair of hits in defeat. Crosscutter pitchers Dotson, Sparks, James Thayer and Dane Bradow managed to spread 10 Mount Spokane hits over seven innings to keep it close.
Wilder ousted at regional tourney
Wilder Baseball Club’s promising 3-0 start fizzled out with a pair of tough losses at the 16-18U Senior Babe Ruth Regional Tournament.
The area team lost out on a spot in the July 24 championship game when it dropped its winners bracket contest 10-5 to Rural Baseball Inc. of Lewis County.
Facing the prospect of having to win three games in a day, Wilder was edged 5-4 by Grays Harbor Longshore in the consolation semifinals.
Grays Harbor went on to top RBI 8-4 and 14-7 to clinch a spot at the 16-18U Senior Babe Ruth World Series in Ephrata.
Wilder’s 2016 lineup featured Sequim players James Grubb, Evan Hurn and Tanner Rhodefer.
