EDITOR’S NOTE: Wilder Senior won the Firecracker Invitational Monday night, beating the Centerfield Roosters 14-8 in the early afternoon and Lakeside Recovery 5-4 in the championship game.
Wilder Senior won five out of six in the tournament. Wilder pitcher Curan Bradley was named MVP of the tournament.
More in Wednesday’s Peninsula Daily News.
PORT ANGELES — After another win and despite a loss, the Wilder Senior team went into the elimination round Monday as the top seed.
Wilder Senior beat Wilder Junior 13-2, then lost a nightcap Sunday 8-3 to Baseball Beyond Borders. Three teams were tied after Sunday with 3-1 records, but Wilder had an edge with fewest runs allowed.
Against Wilder Junior, the Senior team got a home run from Kole Milyard and two doubles and three RBIs from Joel Wood. Reese Blattner had a double with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Matt Hendry went 2 for 2 with two runs scored, two stolen bases, an RBI and a walk and Gavin Guerrero went 2 for 3 with a run, stolen base and an RBI. Brett Moody also had a hit, a run scored and two RBIs.
For Wilder Junior, Slater Bradley was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Ethan Flodstrom had a double. Milo Whitman and Lucas Jarnigan also had hits with Whitman scoring a run. Brody Merritt had six strikeouts in just three innings for Wilder Junior.
Hayden Woods pitched the victory for Wilder Senior going a complete-game five innings, giving up five hits and no earned runs with two walks.
Against Beyond Borders, Wilder Senior simply struggled in the field, making eight errors and allowing four unearned runs.
The game was tight early, tied 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning. Errors helped Beyond Borders take a 6-2 lead in the third inning and in the top of the fourth, Wilder threatened to get right back into it.
With two runners on and no outs, Moody drove in a run with a hit to make it 6-3, but then on a controversial play at home, the Beyond Borders catcher blocked home plate and was knocked over by Luke Angevine trying to score. The umpire called Angevine out and ejected him and the call seemed to change the complexion of the game.
Wilder still had two runners on with two outs when Curran Bradley hit a hard line drive that looked dangerous, but the Beyond Borders shortstop was able to snag it for the third out.
In the fifth, Wilder got three hits from Carson Jackson, Hendry and Milyard, but a double play helped snuff the rally.
“Early on, it was a really close game, then the momentum shifted big time. We failed to get the momentum back. As a group, we didn’t quite pull it together,” said Senior coach Karl Myers.
Myers said that unfortunately when a team begins to make an error or two, it can snowball. “That kind of stuff is contagious,” he said.
Myers said the rule on running into the catcher is still an obscure one (it’s no longer allowed since Buster Posey broke his leg on a collision at the plate), but it was a good learning opportunity for the team to understand that rule.
Myers said on the plus side, Wilder was able to save its pitching for its Monday games and team was a No. 1 seed.
In the Beyond Borders game, Jackson went 2 for 3 with a double and Bo Bradow went 2 for 3 with a double, run scored and RBI. Milyard also went 2 for 3 with a double and run scored. Moody was 1 for 2 with a double and an RBI, while Blatner had a hit and an RBI.
Scores of the Monday games were not known by press deadline. Check at peninsuladailynews.com for updates on Monday’s scores.
Beyond Borders 8, Wilder Sr. 3
WS 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 — 3 11 8
BBB 0 2 4 2 0 0 x — 8 10 1
LP: Moody
Pitching
Wilder Sr. — Moody 3IP, 7H, 4ER; Blankenship 1IP, 2H, 0ER; Ness 1IP; Milyard 1IP, K
Hitting
Wilder Sr. — Jackson 2-3, 2B, BB; Milyard 2-3, 2B; Bradow 2-3, 2B, R, RBI; Moody 1-2, 2B, RBI; Blattner 1-3, RBI.
Wilder Sr. 13, Wilder Jr. 2
WJ 0 0 0 0 2 — 2 5 2
WS 0 3 5 5 x — 13 12 1
WP: Woods LP: Merritt
Pitching
Wilder Jr. — Merritt 3IP, 8H, 7ER, 6K 3BB; Whitman 1IP 4H, 5ER, K, 2BB.
Wilder Sr. — Woods 5IP, 5H, 0ER, K, BB.
Hitting
Wilder Jr. — Bradley 2-3 2RBI; Flodstrom 1-2; Whitman 1-1, R, BB; Jarnigan 1-2.
Wilder Sr. — Wood 2-2, 2 2B, 3RBI, R; Hendry 2-2, 2R, RBI, BB, 2SB; Blattner 1-1, 2R, 2RBI; Moody 1-2 R, RBI; Jackson 1-2, 2R, BB.
Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News Wilder Junior’s Milo Whitman slides into second as Wilder Senior’s Matt Hendry takes the throw. Whitman was caught stealing on the play.
Pierre LaBossiere/Peninsula Daily News Wilder Senior’s Bo Bradow prepares to swing at a pitch from Beyond Borders’ Ben Wong on Sunday evening. Beyond Borders won the game 8-3.
