OLYMPIA — Centralia Titus-Will ended their summer with a fourth place finish at the Lakefair Tournament here over the weekend.
On Saturday, Centralia played a doubleheader and won the first game of the day against River Ridge, 5-0. Chase Sobolesky pitched the first six innings and struck out nine batters to shut out River Ridge.
Centralia did all of their damage in the fourth inning, taking advantage of two strikeout wild pitches and five total wild pitches. Zach Rone and Benito Valencia each hit an RBI double in the inning. Rone was 2-for-3 in the game.
Centralia faced Capital in the second game on Saturday and fell, 12-8. Noah Aliff started on the mound and threw the first four innings. Matt House came on in relief and pitched the rest of the way.
At the plate, Aliff was 2-for-3 with three RBI, House was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Rone was 2-for-4. Sawyer Vogul was 2-for-3 with two RBI as well for Centralia.
Centralia was down 7-1 going into the fifth but the away team battled back and scored six runs in the fifth to even the score at seven. Capital didn’t allow the tie to last long, scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away.
On Sunday, Centralia lost to Olympia 7-5 in the third place game. Asher Guerrero started and pitched four innings in the start on the mound. Gabe Seymour relieved Guerrero in the fifth and Vogul, Rone and House all pitched in the seventh inning.
Rone was 2-for-2 with a double and a RBI and Joey Unger added a hit and two RBI for Centralia.
Centralia was ahead 5-4 going into the seventh inning and gave up three runs to fall and take fourth place.
“It was our fifth game in four days and our pitching was running on fumes, (I’m) proud of the effort they all gave us,” Centralia coach Rex Ashmore said. “We were shorthanded to begin with and played most of the weekend with 11 kids, three of whom never played with us before the weekend. It was a great experience for them and couldn’t be more proud of the effort and commitment they all gave.”
Centralia finished the summer 11-7. Ashmore thanked Titus-Will for sponsoring the team this summer and keeping the cost of playing baseball affordable for kids and families.
I-5 Toyota Struggles in GSL Tournament
I-5 Toyota had some close games but couldn’t get one in the win column at the GSL Tournament over the weekend.
On Friday, Northwest Diamond Sports defeated I-5 Toyota 4-3 in Centralia. Jackson Hull started on the mound but lasted an inning as Benito Valencia came on in relief in the second inning and pitched the rest of the way, striking out seven batters.
At the plate, Carter Olsen hit an RBI double in the second inning and Eli Brown hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth to score a run. Kyle Trout added an RBI single for I-5 Toyota.
Diamond Sports scored one run in the first inning and plated three more runs in the second for a 4-0 lead. I-5 Toyota tried to battle back, scoring one run in the second and two runs in the sixth, but couldn’t complete the comeback.
On Saturday, FM Sports defeated I-5 Toyota, 3-2. Nolan Eyles started on the mound and Bodey Smith relieved Eyles in the fifth inning and finished the game, combining to allow one earned run and six hits.
Olsen hit an RBI single in the second and Max Miller also hit an RBI single in the fourth inning. Max Taylor added two hits for I-5 Toyota.
FM Sports scored one run in the first and second inning. I-5 Toyota tied the game with runs in the second and fourth innings. FM Sports plated one run in the fifth and held on down the stretch for the win.
I-5 Toyota took a break from the GSL Showcase Tournament on Saturday and played a makeup game with Longview at W.F. West, falling 7-1. Eli Brown started on the mound and Camden Ryan relieved Brown in the fifth inning and pitched the rest of the game. Kyle Trout hit an RBI single in the fourth inning for the lone run for I-5 Toyota.
Longview scored two runs in the first inning and put the game out of reach with five runs in the fifth inning.
On Sunday, I-5 Toyota wrapped up the GSL Showcase Tournament with a 10-0 loss in four innings to Black Hills. Sawyer Burdick started on the mound and Brit Lusk and Jackson Hull each pitched in relief. Brit Lusk had two hits for I-5 Toyota.
Black Hills scored at least one run in each inning, including four runs in the second inning and three runs in the fourth inning to end the game early.
“We had some one run games. We’re in a little bit of a lull right now. We need to regroup and get back to the way we were playing a few weeks ago,” I-5 Toyota coach Tom Grunenfelder said. “Two weeks from state, every team goes through this at one point in the season. We’ll see if we can come out of it and start putting things together.”
I-5 Toyota faces the Vancouver Mavs on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in a single league game at Wheeler Field. The two teams are scheduled to play on Wednesday in a doubleheader at 4 p.m. at Mountain View High School in Vancouver.
