PORT ANGELES — Wilder Senior had its chances, stranding five runners on base in the fifth and sixth innings, but couldn’t break through with a game-changing hit in a 6-3 loss to the West Plains Cannons.
The loss completed Wilder Senior’s (17-19) run in the American Legion AAA state tournament as the Cannons are one of four teams still alive.
Wilder Senior outhit the Cannons 12 to 6. The seniors overall played much better in all facets of the game than they did Sunday, bouncing back from a rough 15-0 loss to the Twin-Cities Titans, but two errors were costly as they allowed three unearned runs.
Down 6-3 in the fifth, Landen Olson, who finished 3-for-3, had a single and Braydan White followed with a double to put the seniors in business. But with two on and one out, the Cannons were able to get a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.
In the sixth inning, Ethan Staples had a two-out single and Alex Angevine followed with a walk, then Olson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Again, the Cannons got a clutch out with a groundout to end the inning. That was Wilder Senior’s last, best chance to blow the game open.
Kaleb Mullen started, going four innings and allowed five hits and three earned runs. He struck out four. He was hurt by the three unearned runs.
Angevine pitched great in the final three innings to keep Wilder Senior in the game. He allowed just one hit and no walks while striking out two. The seniors made it to the final six in the state.
White finished 2-for-4 at the plate, while Ezra Townsend was 2-for-2 with a run scored and RBI. Colton Romero was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Devyn Dearinger had a hit and an RBI.
Wilder Senior’s win at the state tournament came on a go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh inning by Rylan Politika to beat Gonzaga Prep 10-8 in the opener Saturday.
The four teams remaining are the Titans, Pepsi Pak, the Cannons and Lakeside Recovery. Lakeside Recovery out of Bellevue/Issaquah, which won Wilder Senior’s division, beat the Titans 6-2 on Monday and Pepsi Pak out of Yakima beat the Yakima Beetles 5-0.
The championship games will be held at 1 p.m. today and 4 p.m. today (if necessary) at Civic Field.
WP Cannons 6, Wilder Sr. 3
WP 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 — 6 6 0
WSr. 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 — 3 12 2
Pitching
Wilder Senior — Mullen 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 K; Angevine 3 IP, H, 2 K.
Hitting
Wilder Senior — Olson 3-3, R; White 2-4, 2B; Townsend 2-2, R, RBI; Romero 2-3, R; Dearinger 1-1, RBI.
