Lane Douglas slides into home plate for a run Thursday afternoon at Wheeler Field in Centralia.
Drew Rose throws a pitch Thursday afternoon at Wheeler Field in Centralia.
Teegan Zillyet bunts the ball Thursday afternoon at Wheeler Field in Centralia.
Adrian Boites makes connection Thursday afternoon at Wheeler Field in Centralia.
Max Miller slides in safe to second base Thursday afternoon at Wheeler Field in Centralia.
Lane Douglas slides back to first Thursday afternoon at Wheeler Field in Centralia.
Gabe O'Neil put his bat on the ball Thursday afternoon at Wheeler Field in Centralia.
Lane Douglas makes a catch in the outfield Thursday afternoon at Wheeler Field in Centralia.
The end of the road is beginning to loom large on the horizon for the I-5 Toyota American Legion baseball team.
On Sunday, they will face the Vancouver Mavericks in a league double header at Wheeler Field that will determine their final seeding for the playoffs. Sweep the Mavs and the Twin Cities-9 will emerge as league champions. Lose even one game and they would fall to a second place finish.
With those meaningful contests coming up I-5 Toyota decided to spend the week testing their mettle against top gear competition from up and down their namesake freeway.
On Thursday, I-5 Toyota played host to both the Vancouver LineDrive and the Portland Mound Time and came away with one win and one loss on their final bill.
The home team defeated Mound Time 15-5 in six innings thanks to a high-octane offense and a stingy pitching effort from Drew Rose that saw him earn a win out of the bullpen.
“He’s a young kid out of South Bend. He hasn’t thrown a ton for us but he came in and threw three innings, struck out four, didn’t walk anybody and gave up one earned run,” said I-5 Toyota coach Tom Grunenfelder. “We’re real proud of him.”
On the offensive end, the home team saw a crew of hitters get into the swing of things. Trailing 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, I-5 Toyota got loose for five runs in that fifth frame and seven runs in the sixth innings to push the game into mercy-rule territory.
Teegan Zillyet set the pace for I-5 Toyota by collecting four hits and three RBIs, while catcher Adrian Boites added three hits and two RBIs, including his team-leading fifth home run of the summer. Nole Wollan chipped in a pair of hits, including a double and two RBIs, and Kyle Trout also had a pair of hits and two RBIs.
In their showdown with the Vancouver squad I-5 Toyota fell 3-1.
LineDrive scored once in the third, fourth and sixth innings to earn the lasting advantage. I-5 Toyota managed to plate a runner in the fourth to to tie the game up briefly, but a quartet of errors wound up being their undoing.
Cole Wintrip took the tough luck loss for I-5 Toyota despite turning in what Grunenfelder classified as a “great” performance. Wintrip, who threw five innings, gave up two unearned runs. Grunenfelder added that Dylan Stakelin threw one quick inning of relief that required just 12 pitches.
At the plate, I-5 Toyota managed only three hits and Dakota Hawkins drove home the team’s lone run.
On Saturday, I-5 Toyota will host Lakeside Recovery for another non-league affair beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Wheeler Field. Sunday’s league double dip with the Mavericks will begin at 4:30 p.m. at Wheeler Field.
