Saturday's State 2B Baseball: Adna Wins to Take Third Place

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In the most important inning of their season, there was no doubt who the Adna Pirates were going to give the ball to. Four years after earning a state championship as a freshman, Conner Weed came in to pitch in the seventh inning and preserve a 5-4 victory over Kalama for a third place finish in State 2B baseball at Ed Wheeler Field on Saturday.

Holding a 5-3 lead heading into the final frame, Adna turned the ball over to their senior captain following a six inning effort from starting pitcher Camden Ryan. Weed started the inning with a pair of routine outs, but then things got a little squirrely.

Facing the Chinook’s freshman phenom Tommy Brandenburg, Weed was able to coax a swinging strikeout but his out-pitch was too hot to handle for catcher Cole Fay and Brandenburg advanced to first when the dropped third strike caromed off the backstop. That fortuitous break for Kalama was backed up by singles from senior catcher Hayden Wilson, and then junior-do-it-all Alex Dyer poked a single of his own to score Brandenburg. Brennon Vance then drew a walk to load the bases and all of a sudden, Kalama had the game tying run just 90-feet from home plate.

The stakes were high but didn’t phase Weed, who is as battle tested as any high school athlete, and he calmly proceeded to notch his second strikeout of the inning. When the ball wound up in Fay’s mit the Pirates were officially owners of a third place trophy that serves as a tidy bookend to the fruitful voyage that began four years ago.

Weed, the Co-MVP of the Central 2B League this season, was a starting shortstop on the 2015 title team. That year was the first at the helm for coach Jon Rooklidge and the years in between have been filled with district title games, final four appearances, and a whole heap of wins in the Central 2B League gauntlet. After earning the save in Saturday’s third place game, Weed said it felt good to walk off the field one last time as a winner.

“Especially with the middle (years) and not making it, you really wind up liking it a lot more and respecting how hard it is to get here,” Weed said. “I was definitely glad at the end of my last game to be able to come in. It was a little closer than I’d like but we still got the win.”

Weed did his part at the plate as well with a RBI single in the first inning and a pair of walks that helped to keep the pressure on Kalama’s defense. Adna added another run in the third inning off of Kalama starter Bradey Vance before chasing him from the mound in the fifth frame when they tacked on three more runs.

The busiest Pirate on the base paths Saturday was leadoff man Elmer Loose, who had a single, a pair of walks, a textbook sacrifice bunt, and three runs scored.

“It’s really nice to be the first in the lineup when you know you have really good hitters behind you,” said Loose. “All my buddies can just put the bat on the ball. It’s really nice when you get on base because usually I’m getting hit in because those guys are just so good.”



Those swashbuckling buddies include Sawyer Burdick, who was 2-3 with a double, a walk, RBI and a run scored on Saturday. Matt Scheuber also chipped in a double that drove in two runs in the fifth inning, while Chance Fay, and Abel Ingle also added base knocks for the Pirates.

Loose, who has patrolled centerfield for most of the season was relegated to designated hitter duty in the medal round as senior Cody Young registered his final game in the outfield. It was a changeup that Loose threw all his weight behind.

“Cody’s been out most of the year with his injury so it was great to see him get his last game in at centerfield. And, I kind of enjoyed just DH-ing and not having to worry about the field and just preparing myself for my next at bat,” said Loose. “We wanted to make sure that we won that last game. Some people say that finishing third is better than second because you get to win that last game.”

One day after committing a handful of errors that contributed to their semifinal demise at the hands of Brewster, the Pirates committed just two errors, neither of which led to Kalama runs. Rooklidge said he was proud of the way his team rebounded from Friday’s disappointing performance in time to capture a trophy.

“We played well. We cleaned some things up defensively and that makes a difference,” said Rooklidge. “This early game can be difficult after everybody has kind of let their guard down.”

Typically steadfastly stoic type, even Rooklidge wound up taking a trip down memory lane as he watched his two remaining state champions take off their spikes for the last time.

“It was a good way to go out for Conner (Weed) and Cody (Young). Two great kids who have been mainstays of our program,” said Rooklidge. “It’s fun to look back. We were just looking at some pictures the other day and they were both just little tiny guys in that first year we got here.”

Rooklidge’s admiration for his players didn’t stop with those accomplished seniors though.

“This is the best group of kids, in terms of character, that I have ever been associated with in 19 years as a head coach,” he said. “They are just cool kids to a T and they are all going to be really successful people. They are all leaders and they are different, but that’s what makes it a special group to coach.”