SELAH — For the first time since 2001, the Port Angeles baseball team won a game at state and made it to the elite eight.
The Roughriders went a grueling 10 innings to outlast Tumwater 6-4 in Port Angeles’ state tournament opener Saturday in Selah. In the elite eight game late Saturday against No.1 ranked Selah, the Riders couldn’t hold an early lead and fell to the Vikings 9-5.
While Port Angeles has made numerous state tournaments since 2001, the Riders had tough luck at state with a record of 0-8. Six of those losses were heartbreaking one-run defeats.
It was a remarkable close to a season that started roughly for the Riders. Port Angeles got off to a 4-10-1 start to its season and postseason at that time seemed like a long shot. Five of those 10 losses were by one run, however, so the overall record was misleading. The Riders finished the regular season 5-0, including four games in the Olympic League to finish third in the league at 8-6.
Then Port Angeles won three straight at the District tournament to qualify for state, then split a pair of games at the state tournament to finish the season 13-12-1. Port Angeles went 9-2 over its final 11 games.
Tumwater game
Tumwater, the state’s No. 6 seed, got up 3-0 early on Port Angeles ace Kody Williams. The Riders got one of those runs back in the fourth when Alex Angevine singled, Nate Basden double and Luke Flodstrom hit an RBI single.
Port Angeles took a 4-3 lead in the sixth after a Trae Hanan walk, a Bryce DeLeon single and an error on a grounder by Angevine loaded the bases. Basden drove in one run after he was hit by a pitch and Flodstrom drove in his second run of the game on a sacrifice fly and Angevine also came in to score from second.
Tumwater tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with a runner coming in to score on a wild pitch by Angevine, who came in to relieve closer Brayden Martin.
Angevine made up for that mistake, however, pitching great in three extra innings. He ended up going 3⅔, striking out five while allowing just one hit. He ended up throwing 62 pitches in relief as the game kept going for three extra innings.
The Riders had chances to take the lead. They got two runners on and one out in the eight, but Tumwater got two straight strikeouts to get out of the jam. In the ninth, Port Angeles again got two runners on, but couldn’t push a run across.
Finally in the 10th, the Riders broke through, Angevine began the rally by getting hit by a pitch and Basden followed with his second double of the game to put runners on second and third. Flodstrom was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Josiah Gooding came through in the clutch for the Riders with an RBI single and Jordan Shumway was hit by another pitch to drive in a second run to make it 6-4.
In the 10th, Angevine gave up a walk, but closed the door on Tumwater by striking out the side.
Selah game
After such a long game, the Riders might have run out of gas a little against Selah, which is ranked No. 1 in the state in ratings percentage index. Port Angeles was forced to use five pitchers in the second game. They only gave up four hits, but walked 10. The usually sure-fielding Riders also made three errors and gave up five unearned runs.
The Riders got off to a good start, though, getting an RBI double in the first inning from Gooding and an RBI single from Gooding in the third.
The Vikings blew the game open with three runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth to open up a lead of 9-3. The Riders got two runs back in the sixth on a two-run single by Trae Hanan. Port Angeles got two runners on and none out in the seventh, trying to rally back into the game, but Selah closed the game out with a pop-up and double play.
Basden had a great day, going 5-for-9 in the two games with two doubles and three runs scored. Gooding was 4-for-9 with three RBIs on the day while Angevine scored three runs. Flodstrom was 3-for-4 in the win over Tumwater.
