The Rochester baseball team lost its final two games of the regular season on Tuesday, dropping both ends of a doubleheader 5-1 and 13-11 in Montesano.
Tayden Martin pitched well in Game 1 to keep the Warriors within striking distance, allowing five runs (three earned) in a complete-game effort.
“Tayden threw extremely well,” Rochester coach Brad Quarnstrom said. “He did a very good job of keeping them off balance, and I felt like as the game went on he was getting stronger”
Colton Weiss had two hits and drove in Rochester’s only run, while Ethan Rodriguez and Tyler Huston combined for the Warriors’ other three hits.
The offense did much better in Game 2, where the Warriors built an 8-3 lead, but a seven-run fourth from Montesano flipped the momentum.
“We did a good job hitting the ball and putting it in play, all the things you hope to do offensively,” Quarnstrom said. “We had some defensive miscues in the fourth, and they started to compile. Those are things that can go south on you in a hurry.”
Kole Smith and Rodriguez each tallied two hits and two RBIs in Game 2, and Wyatt Dahl added a double and two RBIs of his own. Brayden O’Connor, Simon Barth, and Huston also drove in a run each.
Rochester (9-8, 6-6 1A Evergreen) will enter the 1A District 4 Tournament as the Evergreen’s No. 3 seed, which will pin them against the Trico’s No. 2 on Monday in a district quarterfinal.
If the Warriors win that game, they’ll have three chances to secure a state tournament berth.
“Just gotta win a couple games somehow, someway,” Quarnstrom said. “Then anything can happen from there.”
