Saturday's 2A Baseball: Centralia Cruises Past Hockinson For Berth to State

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VANCOUVER — The Tigers needed two wins here on Saturday for third place in the District 4 2A Baseball Tournament, and Centralia did just that, defeating Ridgefield 11-1 in six innings for a berth to the State Tournament.

Centralia plays North Kitsap at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Ed Wheeler Field. The winner plays the victor of W.F. West and Ephrata in the other regional semifinal.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the kids effort. We were on the road at seven in the morning, played at 10, had to sit around for 3 hours waiting to play again,” Centralia coach Rex Ashmore said. “That long of a layoff, with the sun being out. Being able to get back up to go, the kids were just phenomenal.”

Jeremy Wood pitched a complete game for the Tigers, allowing one run on three hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

“He started for us Wednesday against R.A. Long. He wasn’t real sharp but he was a completely different pitcher on Saturday,” Ashmore said about Wood’s performance on the mound. “He had much better velocity, he was getting ahead of hitters. He was what we expect from him all the time.”

Jerod Frias was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Broc Selstrom was 3 for 3 with a double, home run and two RBIs.

Derek Beairsto was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Nolan Miller was also 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Conner Wasson added two hits for the Tigers.

Centralia rattled off six straight hits with two outs in the first inning to open a 5-0 lead after one inning. The Tigers added three runs in the third for insurance and totaled 16 hits in the game.

“The kids could feel it a little bit. It’s hard to get out of our district when you have to win two games on Saturday,” Ashmore said. “The way they got after it, they found a way to extend our season.”



Ashmore was happy his team gets to play on their home field in the regional round.

“We have a 10 a.m. game again, that extra hour and a half is good to have,” Ashmore said. “Hopefully, we’ll have a good crowd out there. I know our kids will compete. Our kids will be excited to still be playing.”

Tigers Take Down Spudders

Centralia sophomore Cameron Cabrera pitched four solid innings for the Tigers in a 4-2 win over Ridgefield in a District 4 2A Baseball Tournament consolation semifinal game at Propstra Stadium in Vancouver on Saturday morning.

Cameron came into the game in the third inning with two on and no outs and helped get out of the jam, while pitching four innings in his first varsity pitching performance since the Seaside Tournament in March.

“I can’t say enough about the job Cameron did,” Centralia coach Rex Ashmore said. “He basically kept them in check, we only took him out because he was tiring a bit. Cabrera was outstanding for us. I’m proud of the effort in those four innings.”

Kolby Sharp was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI and Colby Steele was 3 for 4 with an RBI.

The win put the Tigers into the third place game with a berth into the regional round of the 2A State Baseball tournament on the line.