Gaither, T-Birds Take Care of Business in District Semis

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RIDGEFIELD — The Tumwater baseball team faced a foe it has plenty of recent history against Wednesday at the RORC, but the T-Birds did what they’ve done best all season, jumping out to an early lead and letting their pitching carry them to a 5-1 win over Columbia River in the 2A District 4 semifinals.

It was the third postseason meeting between the Rapids and the Thunderbirds in the past 370 days; River took down Tumwater in the district title game last season, but the T-Birds got them back on the bigger stage in the State title game.

“They’re a team that does not quit,” Tumwater coach Lyle Overbay said. “They could be down 10 runs, and they’re not going to quit. Other teams, it’s like, ‘Okay, I can take a deep breath, we’re okay.’”

Then again, if there’s anybody to quiet the Rapids, it’s senior Trenton Gaither. 

The senior entered the postseason with an ERA hovering just over 0.50, and after six innings Wednesday allowing just one unearned run, that clip is even lower.

“He took a deep breath and figured it out,” Overbay said. “That’s what he’s been doing all year, so it was just a matter of time before he did it and trusted it and had some success. That was good to see.”

Gaither started his day with four straight strikeouts, and after River got its first hit of the day, he came back with two more. The lefty worked in his offspeed early, freezing the Rapids with a nasty knuckle-curve that left batters looking and out on the front foot all afternoon long. He ended his day with nine punchouts.

“He starts it off the plate, and sometimes guys give up on it, and then it comes right over the middle,” Overbay said. “I felt like they were doing that, and then with two strikes he’d put it down and they were swinging over it.”

Tumwater gave him all the run support he’d need early with a power surge; Derek Thompson led the game off with a double, and Eddie Marson brought him home on a triple, before himself scoring on an error. Kyler Collier made it 3-0 on a sacrifice fly.

In the second, the bats went back to work, with Thompson singling and Alex Overbay doubling him home. 

But that would be all Tumwater would manage, going quiet over the middle innings and leaving it to Gaither and the defense to keep the lead. It got a bit hairy at times — River loaded the bases in the third, got a runner to third in the fourth, and finally got onto the scoreboard in the fifth — but each time, the T-Birds got out of it before the Rapids could really rally.

And once River scored in the fifth, Tumwater switched its own offense back on, when Kyler Collier singled and proceeded to cause havoc on the bases, scoring from second on an error on a pickoff and pushing the lead back to four.

“That was a big run,” Overbay said.

Thompson and Brayden Oram both had two-hit days to lead the T-Birds at the plate. Ayden Ramsey came in and threw a no-stress seventh, capping the win with a strikeout.

The win sends Tumwater back to the district title game for the third straight year, and after back-to-back losses, they’ll hope the third time's the charm. The T-Birds haven’t won a district crown since 2015; they’ll try to change that in an all-EvCo clash against W.F. West on Friday.