The Centralia College baseball team won two games but missed a chance to make up ground on the teams ahead of it in the standings against the cellar-dwellars in the NWAC West, splitting doubleheaders with Olympic College. The Blazers lost 5-3 in Game 1 in Centralia on Saturday before coming back to win 10-0 in six innings in Game 2, before winning 5-1 and losing 1-0 in seven on Sunday.
The Blazers came into the weekend in fourth place in the division — which will send four teams to the playoffs — while Olympic entered with a 1-18 division record.
That didn’t matter at all in Game 1, though, when the Rangers led 3-1 going into the later innings and surged ahead for good with a two-run ninth after the Blazers tied it up in the bottom of the eighth.
Game 2 saw Centralia hit its stride behind a one-hit gem on the hill from Ian Bauer, who struck out eight in a shortened complete game. Meanwhile, the bats banged out 10 hits, led by two apiece from Zaia Acklus, Casen Taggart, and Jaden Fulsher.
Heading up to Bremerton on Sunday, the Blazers started fast with two runs in the second, then added insurance in the eighth and ninth. But the momentum — and the chance at a series win — stalled when the Rangers started Game 2 with a run in the first, and held the Blazers scoreless the whole way.
Ryan Henrickson took the hard-luck loss despite giving up just one run in six innings.
Centralia will wrap up the regular season with a pair of doubleheaders — Friday in Centralia and Saturday in Longview.
