Bearcats Capture Third in State After Wild Ending Against Vikings

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BELLINGHAM — In a game that very well could have been for a state title between contenders reeling from 2A state semifinal defeats, the W.F. West baseball team saved some late-game dramatics for its final game of the season against Selah in the state third-place game at Joe Martin Stadium. 

Tied up at 4-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Bearcats found a way to load the bases with two outs, looking to walk it off. 

The lead runner at third, Deacon Meller, told his coach Jesse Elam he wanted to steal home, and Elam obliged. 

“Deacon said ‘I got it,’” Elam said. “We haven’t practiced that, but I trusted Deacon. I went down and told Lane (Sahlin) we were going to take a pitch, don’t swing.”

Meller got a good jump and sprinted toward home plate looking to end the game right then and there, sliding into home plate and turning toward the W.F. West dugout in celebration, with the Bearcats responding in kind with smiles and first pumps. 

That is, until they saw the home plate umpire rule Meller out at home. 

Pandemonium broke out. WIAA officials streamed onto the field as both Elam and W.F. West assistant coach Jason Kelley got tossed for arguing the call with the home plate ump — and the Bearcat dugout threw their hands up in disbelief. 

After Elam and Kelley retreated off the field of play, the umps conferred, chatted with the Selah coaching staff and what was left of W.F. West's, and reversed the call. 

Game over. 

“It’s Bearcat magic is what it comes down to,” Elam said, let back onto the field after the game was over to celebrate. “We didn’t have it last night but it showed up today. These guys embody everything about Bearcat baseball.”

The win marked W.F. West’s second third-place finish at the 2A state tournament in a row, after defeating Ellensburg in the consolation game a year ago in the Final Four. 

And tied up with two outs and the bases juiced, Elam had all the confidence that Meller would make it home, which made it especially frustrating when he was called out at the plate. Meller said that Saturday’s win was nothing like he’d ever been a part of before. 

“No, that tops everything, that was crazy,” Meller said. “I saw the pitcher was in the windup and I wanted to take it. It's great, (Elam) knows I’m fast and I knew I could get there.”

The Bearcats took a bit of a tumbling path to get the victory, falling into an early 1-0 hole before back-to-back two-run innings in the third and fourth, with Meller finishing 2 of 4 with two runs scored and two RBIs, and Weston Potter knocking in a run going 1 for 3. 

Braden Jones had a good start on the mound, tossing four innings and allowing just one run, but ran into trouble in the fifth, loading the bases, with Miles Martin containing the damage as best he could out of the bullpen and limiting the Vikings to three runs to tie it at 4-4. 

After a couple of unremarkable innings, the seventh hit, and a Selah coach was tossed in the top of the inning for arguing a balk, and the mayhem on the final play led to two more ejections. 

“It's good to go out on a win,” Elam said. “That’s the first time I’ve won a game on a steal of home.”

The win sends the Bearcat seniors out as winners for the second year in a row, with 10 W.F. West ball players suiting up for the final time Saturday afternoon: Evan Stajduhar, Hunter Lutman, Waylen Land, Jeron Martin, Avery Staloch, Lane Sahlin, Riggs Westlund, Hunter Niemi, Gavin Fugate, and Ben LeBoeuf. 

“It’s a great feeling, it’s a great way to end the season,” Meller said. “The seniors work hard for us, it feels great to be able to win for them.”