It hasn’t been a great year for Centralia baseball. The Tigers lost their first 13 games of the season and entered their regular season finale against Black Hills 1-19.
They had a chance to put all of that behind them on Thursday, though, as a win over the Wolves at home would send them through to the district tournament.
It was far from a typical winning effort, as the Tigers were actually no-hit, but they somehow did enough offensively to overcome a four-run deficit, come away with a 6-5 extra-innings victory, and clinch their first postseason berth since 2019.
“Any way we can scratch and claw our way in,” Centralia coach Jake LeDuc said. “We did that today. To be able to crack that egg and get ourselves in is nice … I just gotta tip my cap to the kids.”
Jon Leedy scored the game-winning run, sprinting home on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
That was one of several ways that the Tigers scored their runs without collecting a hit. There was no shortage of baserunners, as they drew 11 walks and were hit four times, and Black Hills also had a pair of errors in the field.
A bases-loaded walk, an error, and a sacrifice fly brought home Centralia's first three runs in the second, a key flip in the momentum after Black Hills took a 4-0 lead in the first two innings.
The Tigers tied it up with two outs in the third thanks to some savvy baserunning from Mykel Sneller. Sneller intentionally got himself caught in a rundown between first and second, allowing Hudson Waterfield to sprint home from third.
Another error gave Centralia a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth.
“They have a way of coming around when you put them on,” Black Hills assistant coach Will Brookreson said.
Black Hills rallied to tie the game at five in the seventh, and that score held until Leedy slid home safely to win it in the eighth.
“We didn’t quit,” LeDuc said. “We’ve rolled over at times, but today, there was absolutely no quit. They wanted to keep the season going … I couldn’t be happier for the guys.”
LeDuc was quick to give credit to both of his pitchers. Kadin Yeung threw into the seventh, allowing seven hits and two earned runs while walking three and striking out six.
Thomas Orr entered the game in the seventh after catching the first six innings, and even though he dislocated his pinky finger earlier this week, he battled through the pain and retired all four of the batters he faced.
“Thomas was nails,” LeDuc said. “He gutted it out. Every single one of those kids gutted it out.”
While the Tigers celebrated postgame, the Wolves got together for one final team huddle. Had they won Thursday at Wheeler Field, they would have been the ones ending their postseason drought, which dates back to 2018.
Instead, their season ends 3-14, including a 2-13 mark in EvCo play.
Willy Kytta, Joel Beldo, and Blain Thomas combined to throw the no-hitter. Thomas added three hits and an RBI at the plate, and Kytta added a double and drove in two runs.
“I’m just proud of the battle we showed,” Brookreson said. “Everybody got after it all game and gave 100 percent. In the end, that’s all we can ask of them. We left it on the field … I hate to see it come to an end. But I’m super proud of them.”
Centralia (2-19, 2-13 2A EvCo) will head south for a pigtail game on Saturday. The Tigers will either take on the winner of Washougal vs. Hockinson, who play in their regular season finale on Friday. The winner will be the No. 5 seed from the GSHL.
“Nobody expects anything out of us,” LeDuc said. “We’ve got nothing to lose, so we’ll go out and leave it all on the field.”
