ADNA — Napavine coach Brian Demarest could tell early on that Cal Bullock was on his A-game.
“When he threw his breaking pitch and it wasn’t spiking, I knew that he was gonna have a pretty good day,” Demarest said. “I never imagined anything like this, but I knew he was going to be Cal.”
Bullock struck out 12 and no-hit Pe Ell-Willapa Valley on Friday in Adna, leading the Tigers to a 1-0 victory over PWV and sending them to the state tournament for the second straight year.
“I’m really proud,” Bullock said. “I’ve been struggling these last two outings. That was a huge confidence boost.”
Bullock gave up nine runs and walked eight batters in his two starts prior to Friday, and in an effort to change things up, Demarest gave him a new batterymate in Beckett Landram. It’s the first game Landram caught all season.
“I knew that Cal needed to feel comfortable,” Demarest said. “We tried Beckett a couple times in practice, so we figured what the heck, right?”
Demarest also highlighted the work Bullock put in throughout the week, saying he worked tirelessly to adjust his timing and arm angle on his offspeed pitches. Bullock said that work paid off, saying that his breaking ball was “the best it’s ever felt.”
PWV’s Liam Smaciarz had a great day of his own on the bump for the Titans. He allowed just six hits and one unearned run while striking out four and only issuing two walks.
The only run of the game came in the bottom of the fifth, when Eric Bullock scored on a two-out error.
“Liam’s a competitor,” PWV coach Kent Smaciarz said. “I told him today, ‘this could be your last high school outing’ … I’m super proud of him. Just wish we could have got him some runs and some support.”
PWV will have one more chance to get the bats going. The Titans (13-7) will face Toutle Lake on Saturday morning in Chehalis, and the winner will get District 4’s fifth and final spot in the state tournament.
“We just need to put the ball in play, and we need to swing at strikes,” Kent Smaciarz said. “We’re going to be battling for our lives. We got another chance, and we’ll see what we can do.”
The Tigers (16-6) will face Toledo in the third-place game at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Chehalis, and then they will learn their seeding and first-round opponent at state when the seeding committee meets on Sunday.
The first two rounds of the 2B State Baseball Tournament will take place next Saturday, May 24, and they will be hosted by the top-four seeds in the state.
“We just earned one more week of baseball, and that’s all that matters,” Demarest said. “I don’t care where it is. If we play in Mossyrock or freaking Spokane if we get to play another week. Hopefully, we can extend it another week and see where that goes.”
