W.F. West returns to state tournament behind stout pitching

Fueled by the pitching staff allowing only one walk and doing just enough at the plate, the Bearcats claimed the final state spot out of Class 2A District 4 with a 6-2 win over Ridgefield followed by a 2-0 triumph over R.A. Long at home on Saturday.

It puts W.F. West (21-4) back into the field of 16 with the chance to reach Bellingham for the first time in two years. It rode the arm of Emmett Goodman in both contests. The junior struck out five in six innings of work versus the Spudders on 66 pitches.

He turned around and pitched the final 1.2 against the Lumberjacks and recorded the save with zero hits allowed. 

“He is an absolute gamer, he’s a dog,” Bearcats head coach Jesse Elam said of Goodman. “We know what we’re gonna get every time he comes out on the mound. It is really fun.”

While the offense didn’t break out, they provided enough run support. A four-run top of the fourth broke a 1-1 tie versus Ridgefield which featured a Reece Marquez RBI single, Hiroto Smaciarz a run-scoring triple, a steal of home and a passed ball.

Smaciarz finished with three hits in the win, the only Bearcat with multiple, while Beckman Dvorak launched a solo home run to cap the offense. Game 2 was much more low-scoring and both of their runs came in the bottom of the second.

With two outs, Gage Wiens notched an RBI single and Marquez laid down a bunt that R.A. Long threw all over the place and he ended up at third. Hayden Rooney went five-plus and six strikeouts with just four hits.

Rooney and Goodman both pitched versus the Lumberjacks in the quarterfinals. The duo fared better the second time around.

“We put ourselves in the situation to win two and we went out and did it,” Elam said. “Would it have been nice to score more runs? Absolutely. But our pitchers did what we expected them to do. Just limiting those free bases in those big games.”

W.F. West will find out its seed on Sunday morning for the state tournament.