NAPAVINE — In the first four innings of their first matchup of the season, the Adna Pirates and Napavine Tigers went back and forth, and an exciting finish seemed to be in store.
A thrilling ending never came, though, as the Pirates took over in the fifth and rolled to an 11-7 victory to stay undefeated. It’s Adna’s 16th straight win, 13 of which have come in Central 2B League play.
“I told the boys ‘it’s gonna be a grind,’” Adna coach Jake Overbay said. “You could tell from our players and their players, this meant a lot more than just a regular season game. There’s a lot of passion and a lot of emotion. It’s always very fun, and (we’re) very fortunate to be on top.”
It was Napavine that took the first multi-run lead of the game in the bottom of the third, as the top of the Tiger lineup strung together three-extra base hits in a row.
Beckett Landram got on with a triple, Cal Bullock drove him in with a double, and Hudson Chambers one-hopped the wall with a triple of his own to bring Bullock in.
“They barrelled balls that whole inning,” Napavine coach Brian Demarest said. “That’s all the things we work on in the cage, and they put it all together in about four at-bats. It was great to see.”
Adna tied things right back up on a two-run single from Luke Mohney in the fourth, and Naillon Ramirez gave the Pirates the lead with an RBI double in the fifth.
Ramirez was the third straight Pirate batter to reach base in that inning, and that streak eventually reached seven consecutive hitters. In that time, four more runs scored, and Adna’s lead was 9-4.
Chambers drove in two to get the Tigers back within three in the bottom of the inning, and Overbay turned to Jack Pennington to try and settle things down.
He did just that, allowing just one hit and one run while striking out six in three innings.
“I was really impressed with Jack just coming in and throwing strikes,” Overbay said. “He came in and did the job. He just threw a ton of strikes and challenged them. He even got to work on his breaking stuff, which he hasn’t thrown a lot this year, so that was great.”
An RBI groundout from Mat Roundtree and an RBI single from Danner Hoinowski provided some extra cushion in the sixth, and Pennington eventually stranded the bases-loaded in the bottom of the seventh.
Ramirez finished 2 for 2, while Luke Mohney finished 1 for 4 with three runs batted in. Chambers finished 2 for 4 with a pair of RBIs, while Bullock and Landram combined to score five runs.
Despite it being Napavine’s second straight loss, Demarest was more than pleased with how the Tigers (13-4, 11-2 C2BL) competed, something he didn’t feel they did very well in Wednesday’s loss to Toledo.
“If we compete like this every game, everything will work out the way it should work out,” Demarest said. “I have no problems with the way we competed … It gives me confidence for the rest of the season. We can win with this effort.”
With the win, the Pirates (16-0, 13-0 C2BL) now have a two-game lead over the Tigers in first place, giving them the chance to clinch the league title when the two teams meet again on Monday. At the very least, Friday’s win gives them some cushion atop the league.
"It was definitely a sigh of relief,” Overbay said. “Now we’re excited to go see them at home on Monday.”
