Rainier and MWP Eliminated During Three-Way-Playoff Loss to Mules

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Morton-White Pass and Rainier baseball teams saw their seasons come to an end Tuesday at Adna High School during a three-way playoff with Wahkiakum for the seventh and final spot in the 2B District 4 tournament.

Rainier won the coin flip and a bye Tuesday morning, which set up a loser-out showdown between the Timberwolves and Mules at 3 p.m. later that day.

MWP fell behind early, giving up an RBI double to Wahkiakum’s Dominic Curl, which turned into an inside-the-park home run due to Timberwolves’ errors.

The T-Wolves trailed 2-0 through three innings before the Mules exploded for seven runs in the top of the fourth to take a commanding, 9-0 lead.

MWP’s offense finally woke up in the bottom of the fourth, plating two runs after drawing a slew of walks. But the Mules fired right back, increasing their lead to 13-2 with four runs in the fifth. MWP scored once more in the bottom of the fifth but couldn’t come back in a 13-3 defeat.



That set up a showdown with Wahkiakum and Rainier right after.

Rainier surrendered one run each to the Mules in the first and second innings to trail 2-0 early on. The Mountaineers tied the game in the bottom of the third with two runs of their own. But the Mules scored a run in the third and another in the fourth while holding Rainier scoreless the rest of the way for a 4-3 win.

Rainier was led offensively by John Kenney and Ethan Gonzalez, who each went 2 for 3 with a run scored. Gonzalez also drove in two runs.  Jared Sprouffske and Ryder Cruse each had a hit for Rainier, with Cruse driving in one run.

Kenney pitched all four innings, striking out eight while allowing four earned runs on four hits and six walks.

Wahkiakum will now move on to face Toledo in the opening round of district at 11 a.m., Saturday, in Long Beach. The winner of that plays Ilwaco.