Dakota Hawkins entered his senior baseball season in the final stages of recovery from an ACL injury.
That, along with rained-out games and a deep, talented pitching staff, had limited him to just two innings on the mound through W.F. West’s first 11 games.
So, all things considered, he was just happy to get the start on a sunny Thursday in Chehalis.
“It felt good to be out there,” he said. “You get this weather, you know, and we haven’t had a nice day in two and a half weeks. It felt good to be back out in the sun.”
The sun wasn’t all Hawkins had to smile about. In his first start and longest outing of the year, the right-hander carried a perfect game into the final inning of a 13-0 Evergreen 2A Conference win over Rochester.
He admitted that, of course, he knew what was going on.
“I mean, you talk to any pitcher that’s throwing a perfect game, and they’ve always got it in the back of their head,” he said. “But, I mean, I’ve got to give credit to my guys on the sticks. They gave me the run support when I needed it, so it just made life easier on the mound.”
The defense, too, helped out. Center fielder Tyson Guerrero ran down a deep fly ball from Jared Winters on the first at-bat of the game and made a solid play on a shallow fly for the third out of the fourth inning.
“The first guy of the game hits a shot to right-center field and Guerrero’s out there like it’s nothing,” Hawkins said. “It made my game a lot easier.”
The only defensive miscue was a grounder to second base that was thrown over first baseman Nole Wollan’s head to put a runner on to open the fifth inning. Hawkins fanned the next two batters — giving him 11 strikeouts — before Joel McCarthy knocked a ground ball just under the shortstop’s glove for the Warriors’ only hit of the contest. Hawkins retired the next batter with a groundout to second to finish with a five-inning one-hitter without a walk.
On the other side, W.F. West scored 13 runs over the second, third and fourth innings with eight spots in the lineup recording hits.
Guerrero led the way, going 3 for 5 with a triple and five RBIs. Leandre Gaines went 2 for 3 with a double and three RBIs, Wollan went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and Josiah Johnson was 2 for 3 with an RBI. Max Miller went 2 for 2.
It was the fourth time in the last five games that a Bearcat pitcher flirted with a no-hitter. Brandon White and Guerrero threw back-to-back no-hitters against Black Hills last week, and White, who hasn’t allowed a hit since March 28, also tossed six no-hit innings before being subbed out of an eventual 8-1 win over Tumwater on Wednesday.
W.F. West (10-2, 8-0 league) plays at rival Centralia on Friday.
Centralia Fends Off Tumwater
TUMWATER — Jerod Frias pitched five quality innings for Centralia to help the Tigers earn a 5-4 win over Tumwater in an Evergreen 2A Conference baseball game here on Thursday.
Jeremy Wood had a hit and two RBIs and Frias helped his cause at the plate with a two-run single in the fourth inning.
Jackson Hull pitched the last two innings to get the save.
Tumwater scored a run in the sixth, but Hull shut down the Thunderbirds in the seventh.
Tumwater led 3-0 after an inning, though Centralia coach Rex Ashmore noted that a misplayed fly ball helped two runs score.
“After that, we played very well defensively. We made every play we need to make,” Ashmore said. “I’m proud of the way the kids came back and kept competing.”
Ashmore noted the excellent performance of Nolan Miller and Conner Wasson at the bottom of the batting order.
Centralia (9-3, 7-0) hosts W.F. West Friday in a Swamp Cup matchup of the last two undefeated teams in the EvCo.
