Friday's State 2A Baseball: Bearcats Struggle in Semifinal Loss to Ellensburg

YAKIMA — W.F. West’s 22-game win streak came to an end against Ellensburg, 4-0, at the State 2A baseball tournament semifinals at County Stadium on Friday.

The Bearcats end the season on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the third place game against the loser of West Valley (Spokane) and Mountlake Terrace.

The Bearcats didn’t feel like they played poorly in the loss and felt the baseball gods were not on their side today.

“Well, obviously, we just could not get a break. It wasn’t that we played bad. Every time we hit the ball hard, it was right at someone,” W.F. West coach Bryan Bullock said. “Every time they hit a ball, it just seemed to find a spot. They got all the breaks and we didn’t get any.”

W.F. West struggled at the plate with just three hits, including two hits from Dakota Hawkins and a hit by Brock Jones.

“We played alright. It’s a little different, we haven’t played in a week,” Hawkins said. “I think we did well, Brandon went out and threw a game like he always does. Bats were a little quiet but that’s baseball.”

The Bearcats put the ball in play, but it was usually right at someone, whether it was a fly ball to the outfield or a ground ball or line drive to shortstop or second base.

“It was frustrating because we were piecing up balls here and there but it’s baseball, it happens,” Hawkins said. “It goes your way, it doesn’t. You can hit the ball really well most of the time but you just hit it right to people.”

Tyler Polacek pitched six scoreless innings for Ellensburg with four strikeouts in the win.

“I think that’s part of what happened today is we did seem to get a little frustrated, some of our guys at the plate and we didn’t react very well to it,” Bullock said. “I’ve got to take my hat off to their kid. He obviously was mixing up his pitches and I don’t think he walked a batter. He was really on his game today and kept us off balance.”

W.F. West had four errors and allowed five infield hits.

“We tried to position ourselves in the right positions but they just kept hitting balls in awkward spots and we just couldn’t make the plays,” Bullock said. “That’s part of baseball.”

Ellensburg’s Brady Helgeson and Polacek each had two hits.

Brandon White pitched five innings for W.F. West and allowed five hits with six strikeouts in the loss.

“Brandon really competed for us, a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He came out and did everything that we could have asked him to do,” Bullock said. “We just didn’t make any plays behind him. They’re (Ellensburg) pesky, those infield hits, they put pressure on us and we didn’t make the plays behind him.”

Ellensburg’s Brady Helgeson stole home in the first inning for a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs added a run in the third inning when an error allowed Trace Townsend to come around and score for a 2-0 lead and load the bases, but White was able to strikeout the next two batters to get out of the jam.

In the fifth, Hawkins turned a ground ball into a double play that allowed Helgeson to come home from third and score for a 3-0 lead and a bloop single from Gage Gibson in the seventh brought home the final run of the game.

Hawkins had a single in the second and a single with two outs in the seventh. Jones hit a single to follow Hawkins, but LeAndre Gaines hit a line drive right at the second baseman for the final out of the game.

After just their third loss this season, the Bearcats (22-3) will try to regroup and come back on Saturday and earn a win in the third place game.

“We talked about how we haven’t tasted defeat since the first day you could play a game back on March 10, so it’s been a long time,” Bullock said. “It’s a tough spot to have to lose a game but more than anything, we win as a team and we’re going to figure out what losing as a team means. Hopefully, we’re going to respond as a team tomorrow and finish the season off the right way for our seniors.”