The Pe Ell-Willapa Valley baseball team was able to get into the double-elimination part of the 2B District 4 tournament with a thrilling win over Wahkiakum, but the Titans fell to Toutle Lake in their second game of the day to finish the day 1-1.
The Titans, who ended up on the wrong end of a three-way coin flip tiebreaker earlier this week, had to play in the loser-out first round, and Wahkiakum gave the Titans everything they could handle.
After PWV (16-5) built a 5-0 lead in the first four innings, the Mules scored seven in the fifth to take a 7-5 lead.
The Titans were able to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a pair of RBI groundouts, and in the bottom of the seventh, Liam Smaciarz sent the Titans through to the quarterfinals with a walk-off, two-run home run.
Bryaden Ruddell collected two hits and drove in two runs, and Blake Howard also logged two hits. Lucas Lusk went 1 for 4 with a two-run double. Max Jarvis earned the win on the mound by throwing two and a third scoreless innings out of the pen.
In the quarterfinal against Toutle Lake, the Titans took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single from Howard, but the Ducks took the lead in the bottom half and never looked back.
Toutle Lake’s Zach Swanson settled in on the mound, and PWV only managed one hit in the final four innings of the game.
The Titans can no longer win the district title, but they can still make state by winning their next two games and qualifying for the district third-place game. The first loser-out game they’ll need to win is against Toledo, and that game will take place on Monday at Napavine.
