SPOKANE — Coming off a wild and dramatic come-from-behind victory to get into the American Legion state tournament championship round, Wilder A came up just short Wednesday in a 5-3 loss to a 27-2 Almira-Coulee-Hartline team.
ACH moved on to play the Kennewick Phantoms for the state championship later Wednesday night.
Despite the loss, the Wilder A Baseball Club has already created a lot of great memories and made its mark against the rest of the state, going deep into the tournament with a 3-2 record and making it to the three-team championship round.
Wilder A (17-13 overall) had two walk-off wins in the tournament, with the most dramatic game coming in a 12-11 win over the NW Sting on Tuesday night.
There were lots of heroes in the win over the NW Sting, the biggest being Lane Wilson, who had a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.
“He hadn’t played all game and came off the bench,” said coach Jadon Seibel. He said Wilson only had a few seconds to warm up, but delivered a clutch hit with the bases loaded.
That win set up a three-way tie for the championship round, with all three teams — Wilder A, ACH and Kennewick — having 3-1 records in the tournament. Wilder A beat ACH earlier in the tournament, 5-4 in a walk-off. And Kennewick beat Wilder A 12-2 earlier in the week.
Tuesday’s game was the fifth this season between Wilder A and the NW Sting. It was a back-and-forth affair that nearly had a heartbreaking finish for the Olympic Peninsula team. Wilder A got up 7-3 and 10-6, but NW Sting rallied with a five-run seventh inning to take an 11-10 lead into the bottom of the inning.
Bubba Hernandez began the seventh with a walk, but after a fly out, he got thrown out at home after an error on a Carson Waddell grounder.
With Waddell on base, but two outs, Garrett Buerer hit a single to keep Wilder A alive. Andre Campbell loaded the bases after he got hit by a pitch. Seibel then brought in Wilson as a pinch hitter and he delivered with a single to score both Waddell and Buerer and end the game.
Wilder A beat NW Sting four out of five games this year.
Knowing the Wilder A might have to play two huge games Wednesday, Seibel used his entire pitching staff. Seven Wilder A pitchers took the hill, none going more than two innings.
“We did something crazy to try and save our pitching,” Seibel said.
Brayden Martin and Hernandez went a combined four innings, allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out four.
At the plate, Carston Seibel was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, three RBIs and a steal. Ian Smithson hit a double and a triple, drove in three runs and scored two.
Buerer was 2-for-4 with the game-winning run, while Hernandez had a triple and an RBI. Campbell hit a double, scored a run and drove one in.
Wednesday game
ACH got off to a fast start Wednesday, scoring four runs in the first inning.
After that, the Wilder A duo of Harris Bower and Owen Leitz bore down, allowing just one more run the rest of the way.
The pair allowed only five hits all game. Meanwhile, Wilder A hitters chipped away, scoring two in the second and one in the third to get right back in the contest.
Bower went 4⅔, allowing four hits and three earned runs. He struck out four. Leitz went 1⅓, allowing one hit and striking out one.
At the plate, Easton Fisher was 2-for-2 with a double and two runs scored, while Buerer had a hit, a run scored and an RBI. Ryland Proiette had a hit and an RBI. Martin also had a hit.
ACH 5, Wilder A 3
WA 0 2 1 0 0 0 — 3 5 3
ACH 4 1 0 0 0 0 x — 5 5 3
Pitching
Wilder A — Bower 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 K; Leitz 1.1 IP, H, K.
Hitting
Wilder A — Fisher 2-2, 2B, 2 R; Buerer 1-3, R, RBI; Proiette 1-3, RBI.
Wilder A 12, NW Sting 11
NWS 2 1 0 0 0 3 5 — 11 8 3
WA 1 1 1 0 4 3 2 — 12 10 2
Pitching
Wilder A — Seibel 1.1 IP, 3 K; Martin 2 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 K; Hernandez 2 IP, K; Fisher 0.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER; Waddell 0.1 IP; Bower 0.2 IP, H, 3 K; Proiette 0.1 IP, H, 3 ER, K.
Hitting
Wilder A — Seibel 3-4, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, SB; Smithson 2-3, 2B, 3B, 2 R, 3 RBI; Buerer 2-4, R; Hernandez 1-2, 3B, RBI, BB; Wilson 1-1, 2 RBI.
