Tuesday's Prep Baseball: Eyles Eludes Tumwater Bats in 5-2 Rochester Win

ROCHESTER — Rochester’s Nolan Eyles almost went the distance but settled for six innings on the mound to help the Warriors earn a 5-2 win over Tumwater in an Evergreen 2A Conference baseball game here on Tuesday.

Eyles allowed three hits and two runs while striking out two batters.

“It was alright. I commanded the ball very well the first couple innings and then just had to finish near the end, just didn’t hit my spots but it was good,” Eyles said of his performance. “My curveball was working pretty well today. I mixed them all in pretty well, keep them off balance.”

While there weren’t any eye-popping numbers, Rochester coach Brad Quarnstrom was equally pleased with his starting pitcher.

“I thought we played well. Obviously, Nolan (Eyles) on the mound was huge. He did a phenomenal job which he did the same thing last week to Centralia, defense was great,” Quarnstrom said. “If we can get pitching performances like that and play defense like that, we’ll be in all the ball games but it was good, good game.”

At the plate, Jared Winters had a double, a run and three RBI. Jayden Lancaster and Tyler Soderback each had a hit, a run and a RBI and Dailin Schlecht recorded a hit and a run for the Warriors.

The win was critical in the EvCo standings, helping the Warriors claim the series over the Thunderbirds and moving Rochester into third place for the final spot from the conference into the district tournament.

“This is a big one. It takes the series from them, we got them again tomorrow. I was just telling the guys, taking the series from them is huge,” Quarnstrom said. “Ultimately, it’s about how many wins can we add on. Right now, we’ve got the series over them and Black Hills and so that’s huge. We just need to go take care of business here the rest of the way.”

Soderback knocked in a run in the first frame for an early lead. After Tumwater tied the game in the top of the second, Winters stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second and hit a double to clear the bases for a 4-1 lead after two innings. Lancaster hit a single in the third to drive in the final run of the game for the Warriors.

Tumwater scored a run in the sixth to cut into the lead. Smith allowed a hit in the seventh before giving the ball to Bodey Smith to earn the save.

Eyles was hoping to go the distance but he’ll take the win.

“I have not faced them before but they’re a pretty good lineup. I know some of them and they can square up the ball pretty good,” Eyles said “I wanted the complete game but Bodey (Smith) finished it. That’s all that mattered, (we) got the win.”

Rochester (6-5, 5-4) travels to Tumwater to take on the Thunderbirds once again on Wednesday.

Tigers Come From Behind to Defeat Wolves

Centralia scored seven runs in the sixth inning to take the lead and hold on for a 9-7 win over Black Hills in an Evergreen 2A Conference baseball game at Wheeler Field in Centralia on Tuesday.

At the plate, Cameron Erickson was 3-for-4 with a three RBI double in the sixth. Colby Steele was 2-for-3 with a RBI and Derek Beairsto was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI.

Centralia scored the first run of the game in the first inning. Black Hills scored two runs in the third to take the lead and added four runs in the fifth and one run in the sixth for a 7-2 lead. The Tigers figured out the bats in the sixth, as Erickson helped tie the game with his bases clearing double and Beairsto hit a two RBI double to put Centralia ahead.

“For the most part, until the sixth, their kid kept us at bay. We didn’t even threaten much after the first. The sixth inning, it started innocently but they committed three of their four errors that kept inning alive,” Centralia coach Rex Ashmore said. “Erickson delivered, Beairsto with two outs gave us the lead. Cabrera, he was able to keep them in check and finished it with a solid seventh inning. A little Wheeler magic crept in tonight, haven’t had that in a while.”

Centralia (10-4, 6-3) travels to Tumwater to take on the Wolves one more time on Wednesday.

Bearcats Cruise Past Bobcats

Daniel Fagerness got it done on the mound and at the plate to help the Bearcats earn a 8-3 win over Aberdeen in an Evergreen 2A Conference baseball game at Bearcat Stadium in Chehalis on Tuesday.

Fagerness started and threw five innings, allowing five hits, two runs and two walks while striking out three batters. Tanner Vaughn pitched the seventh inning, allowing no hits and striking out one batter.

At the plate, Brock Jones was 2-for-3 with two doubles, a run, a RBI and a walk and Brit Lusk was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI. Lane Douglass and Fagerness each had a hit and a RBI and Josiah Johnson added a hit and a run. Leandre Gaines had a hit, two runs, a RBI and a walk and Max Taylor was 2-for-3 with two runs.

Aberdeen opened the scoring with two runs in the third inning. W.F. West gained the lead with four runs in the fourth inning and plated four more runs in the fifth to secure the win.

W.F. West (13-1, 9-0) travels to the harbor to take on Aberdeen on Wednesday.

Titans Wallop Hyaks

OCEAN SHORES — Pe Ell-Willapa Valley needed 10 innings total to earn a sweep of North Beach in a Pacific 2B League baseball doubleheader here on Tuesday.

In Game 1, the Titans won 12-1 in five innings. Hunter Hoke started for PWV and threw four innings, allowing one hit, one earned run and two walks while striking out six batters.

At the plate, Frank Roonsburg was 2-for-3 with a triple, three runs and a RBI and Luke Gerow was 3-for-3 with a triple, double, two runs and five RBI.

Hudson Barnum had a double and a run, Kaden Ritzman had a hit and a RBI and Kollin Jurek had a hit, two runs and two RBI.

The Titans scored three runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth to end the game early.

It was more of the same in Game 2, with PWV winning 15-2. Donnie Ward was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Max Smith had a double, three runs, a RBI and a walk and Gerow hit a double to go with two runs, two RBI and a walk.

Roonsburg had a hit, three runs, two RBI and two walks, Jurek was 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI and Hoke was 2-for-3 with a run and three RBI for the Titans.

PWV scored three runs in the first and second inning before plating eight runs in the fourth to conclude the game in five innings.

PWV (10-4, 10-2) travels to South Bend on Friday for a P2BL doubleheader.

Vikings Nearly Nip Ducks in Doubleheader

MOSSYROCK — The Vikings came up just short in their bid to take down Toutle Lake here on Tuesday as they lost a Central 2B League baseball doubleheader by scores of 3-0 and 1-0.

Nick Fried and JC Workman combined to toss the first game for Mossyrock. Neither pitcher allowed more than one run in any inning. The Vikings attempted a comeback in the seventh inning but had to settle for a single run when their bats failed to come through in the clutch.

“We just couldn’t put any hits together and we struck out 10 times,” said Mossyrock coach Darren Kolb senior. “I was happy we played great defense. We only gave up four hits.”

The younger Kolb turned in one hit and one run in the game while Nick Fried and Tim Bowes added a hit each.

In the second contest it was Evan Gootgeld, Brennan Shriver, Tim Bowes, and the junior Kolb who handled the pitching duties for the home team. Gootgeld was saddled with the touch luck loss after allowing one run in the first inning.

“We picked the wrong day to not hit the ball because our pitchers pitched very well,” said Coach Kolb. “I was proud they never gave up. Toutle Lake pitched very well both games and kept us off the bases. Tim Bowes swung the bat both games and pitched very well.”

Bowes was 2-for-2 at the plate in the second contest for the Vikings while Fried and Matteo Mendoza each added a hit.

Moss earned the win for Toutle Lake in game one and Cox took the honors in game two. Grabenhorst had two hits in the nightcap while Waddell had two hits in the first contest for the Ducks.

Mossyrock (2-9, 1-8 league) will play at Winlock on Wednesday.