Saturday's 2B Baseball: Adna Drops District Title Game to Kalama

In a turn of events that cuts across the grain of all that is known in the baseball world it was the team that played sloppier defense who emerged victorious in a battle of two certified ace pitchers here on Saturday.

Despite committing six errors on the day Kalama was able to ride a strong pitching performance by Tommy Brandenburg to a 4-3 win over Adna in the District 4 2B baseball title game at Bearcat Stadium in Chehalis. Brandenburg allowed just three hits on the day but six errors by the Chinooks defense allowed Adna to hang around until the end.

Adna went up 1-0 in the first inning when Sawyer Burdick singled to bring home Elmer Loose. However, Brandenburg righted the ship in time to strand two runners and Kalama came out hot in the second inning.

Chase Staup singled to start things off and then Shayden Jones switched places on a fielder’s choice. Jackson Hull cracked a double that sailed over the leftfielder’s head on the breeze to bring home Jones. A walk to the 9-hole hitter set Brandenburg up to drive in a run with a single of his own before Brennon Vance brought two runs home with another hit.

Adna coach Jon Rooklidge noted that not all of the hits were clean and said that starting pitcher Camden Ryan probably deserved a better outcome than he was dealt.

“The wind was blowing hard and we took a bad route. That was an out. Then that ball in the infield. It was simple. We took a route, got distracted somehow and broke to second base, I’m not sure why. That’s the third out and instead it kind of blew up for four runs right there,” noted the Pirates skipper. “Kalama’s too good. You can’t give them extra outs.”

For his part, Kalama coach Brandon Walker said he wouldn’t have guessed that his team would be fortunate to put up all four of their runs in one inning against one of the best pitchers in the the district.

“The short answer to that is no. Camden is as good as it gets. He’s a competitor and he and Tommy went toe to toe. It was a ballbuster, so to speak,” said Walker.

Walker was even more grateful that his team was able to overcome committing six errors in the contest.

Two of those miscues popped up in the sixth inning when Adna mounted a comeback charge. Levi Gates started the inning off with a single before Abel Ingle and Cole Fay reached base on back to back infield errors. The Pirates scored one run on the overthrow to first that allowed Fay to reach base and a groundout by Camden Ryan brought in another run before Brandenburg slammed the door shut on Adna’s fleeting opportunity.

Brandenburg finished the game with two earned runs and three hits allowed to go along with eight strikeouts in seven innings. Ryan’s final line, in six innings of work, was four earned runs on eight hits with six punchouts.

“I thought we battled pretty good. We put the ball in play and avoided the strikeout which can be tough with a pitcher like that who has an out pitch,” said Rooklidge. “We are going to have to beat people like that in the postseason and we are right there.”

Gates, Ryan, and Burdick each had a hit for Adna.

With a handful of seniors who have been with him every step of the way Walker was extra proud of his team’s accomplishments after nailing down the toughest 2B district title in the state.

“This is a team where when they were freshmen it was my first year too. We went into this thing with high expectations,” explained Walker. “By the time they were seniors we said let’s win a league championship. Let’s win a district championship and let’s win a state championship. We’ve got two of the three out of the way and one looming over our heads.”

Both teams will advance to the Regional round of the playoffs next week. Kalama will play Onalaska at Adna at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Adna will play Rainier in Yelm at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Mules Blank Loggers for Fifth Place

James Anderson had another quality pitching performace for Wahkiakum, leading the Mules to a 4-0 win over Onalaska in a District 4 2B baseball tournament fifth place game at Bearcat Stadium in Chehalis on Saturday.

The Mules scored one run in the second and three runs in the fourth and let Anderson do the rest on the mound to complete the win.

“We played well. We just ran into a tough pitcher, we knew going in, he’s as good as any in this league,” Onalaska coach Rocky Stanley said. “We played good defense, my kids competed.”

Stanley highlighted Tristen Lawrence on the mound, throwing a good game against a quality opponent.

Onalaska will take on Kalama at 1 p.m. in Adna in the regional round of the state tournament.