Onalaska freshman Tuff Lyons lived up to his name Saturday. Lyons, facing a full count with the bases juiced and two outs, tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 11th, laid off a pitch and earned a walk-off walk to score Ethan Camron for the game-winning run.
It was a high-pressure situation for Lyons and the Loggers, who started off the inning with a hit batter, a base hit and a walk to load the bases with no outs. But after Toledo made a pitching change, the Indians struck out back-to-back Loggers to put everything on Lyons; and he delivered.
“It was a heck of a game,” Toledo coach Bill Waag said. “Eleven innings back and forth… I have to hand it to Ony. They battled. The kids played well on both sides.”
It was the second big play of the night for Lyons, who stole third base with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, trailing 2-1, which forced an errant throw by Toledo’s catcher, allowing Lyons to score the tying run and send the game to 11 innings.
Onalaska starter Domanic Serl threw two innings for the Loggers, giving up one run, while Lethon Fitch pitched three innings of relief and Jeremy Larson threw the final six innings with Spencer Hamilton behind the plate.
“Our pitching was outstanding,” Onalaska coach Rocky Stanley said.
Offensively, Fitch collected two singles and scored one run, while Hamilton had an RBI double in the second inning that scored Danny Dalsted from first base.
The Loggers had five hits and just one error on the day, while Toledo collected six hits with two errors, defensively, both of which resulted in runs for Onalaska
Toledo’s first three pitchers of the five it used combined for 22 strikeouts. Starter Ryan Bloomstrom fanned five batters in three innings, Caiden Schultz struck out 12 batters in five innings and Brannon Guyer added five Ks in three innings.
“It kept us in the game. Our pitchers were solid,” Waag said. “Our two errors in the game were costly and resulted in runs.”
Stanley said it was an impressive showing for both teams this early in the season after having not played a Central 2B League game in nearly two years.
“To go 11 innings with a 3-2 ball game and three errors between the two of us is pretty phenomenal to me when we haven’t played in two years,” Stanley said.
The Loggers improve to 1-1 on the season after taking a 9-7 loss to Rainier on Thursday. The Loggers host Napavine on Monday. Toledo falls to 1-1 after shutting out Morton-White Pass 11-0 on Thursday. The Indians get a bye on Monday and will travel to Wahkiakum on Thursday.
Adna’s Tristan Percival struck out six batters in two innings and the Pirates came away with an 11-7 victory over Pe Ell-Willapa Valley in Pe Ell Saturday.
Chance Muller cracked two hits and drove in two runs for the Pirates, while Joseph Bennight collected two RBIs of his own and Percival walked twice. On the mound, Levi Gates fanned four batters for Adna.
For PWV, Hunter Barnum collected two hits and Joey McCalden walked twice. Pitcher Garrett Keaton threw six innings with six strikeouts and 16 first-pitch strikes for the Titans, who were playing in their first game of the season.
Adna (2-0) was coming off an 11-0 season-opening win over Winlock on Thursday. The Pirates host Wahkiakum on Monday. PWV (0-1) travels to Northwest Christian (Lacey) for a 3 p.m. match on Tuesday.
