Seventh Inning Collapse Wipes Away Gavin Parker’s Solid Performance

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Napavine blew a five-run lead in the seventh inning and squandered a great performance by junior Gavin Parker, both on the mound and at the plate, in a 12-11 loss to Kalama at home on Tuesday.

Parker crushed a soaring grand slam, part of a six-run second inning, and put up a solid performance on the mound, striking out six and allowing two earned runs  on eight hits in 6.1 innings.

“Gavin had a hell of a pitching performance,” Napavine coach Brian Demarest said.

The Tigers jetted to an 11-2 lead after four innings and held an 11-6 advantage heading into the top of the seventh. But the Chinooks came roaring back with Parker leaving the mound due to hitting his pitch count. Kalama took advantage of some Tiger miscues, including a dropped fly ball in centerfield with two outs, to score seven runs and take the lead at 12-11.

The Tigers, trailing by one in the bottom of seven, got the leadoff guy on first base but couldn’t bunt him.

“We went on cruise control and didn’t score any more runs,” Demarest said. 

Napavine out-hit Kalama 11-8, led by Laythan Demarest’s 2-for-3 hitting with a double and two RBI. Connor Holmes went 2-for-5 with an RBI, Parker was 1-for-2 with the grand salami and Scott Burdick was 2-for-3.

Napavine, which sits in fourth place in the 2B Central League, falls to 6-3 overall and hosts Winlock on Thursday.

Mossyrock Clips MWP



Mossyrock busted off six runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 9-8 comeback victory over Morton-White Pass Tuesday in Randle.

Aiden Weist pitched the first four innings for Mossyrock, then eighth-grader Easton Kolb pitched the final three in relief, holding off the Timberwolves in the top of the seventh for the win. The two combined to allow six hits on the day.

“(Kolb) did a nice job shutting us down,” MWP coach Jan Westling said.

MWP used three pitchers, Conner Dill, Aaron Blue and Eathan Smathers. Offensively, Payton Brown had a triple and a single for the Timberwolves, while Layten Collette finished with two singles.

Westling commended MWP center fielder Hunter Hazen for a running, over-the-shoulder catch near the center field wall that saved two runs. He also praised sophomore Carter Dantinne for his defensive performance at shortstop.

“While we lost, this was a really good game in that our fielding, pitching and batting improved,” Westling said. “Just a lot of positives. Our kids did a great job.

“Tremendous game by Mossyrock to comeback. We really respect the Mossyrock team.”

The two squads square off again at 5 p.m. on Friday for a rematch, this time in Mossyrock.