PORT HADLOCK — Extra-base hits by Joel Wood and Gavin Velarde lifted the Olympic Crosscutters to a 5-4 victory against the Olympic Tigers.
More importantly, with Monday night’s victory at the East Jefferson Little League Fields, the Cutters clinched the No. 1 seed to the American League AA District Tournament Friday through Sunday at Civic Field.
The Cutters moved to 7-1 on the summer in league play with the victory.
They will open the district tournament at Civic Field on Friday at 7 p.m. against the winner of a pigtail game between Eatonville and Lower Columbia.
Four games will be played each day of the event, starting at 10 a.m. and running through 7 p.m.
In Monday’s game, Velarde hit a line-drive double to score Wood and put the Cutters up 1-0 after the first inning.
Olympic answered with two runs in the top of the second, but Wood had a reply of his own in the inning’s bottom half, a two-run double to center field that put the Cutters up for good, 3-2.
“Joel Wood hit .667 at the Showcase tournament, and he continues to really hit the ball well,” Cutters coach Jon Qualls said.
“We’ve got him batting leadoff now, and the kid has ice in his veins. He’s Mr. Consistency for us.
“And Gavin is hitting the ball really well, and seeing things really well. He’s another big weapon for us.”
Velarde, and the brothers Dotson, Lane and Cole, combined to hold down Olympic on the mound.
“We went by committee a little bit with the pitching, and Gavin stayed around the zone and Lane and Cole both did a solid job after that,” Qualls said.
Olympic loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh but managed just one run.
Cole Dotson picked up a three-pitch strikeout and then got the final out on a ground ball to Velarde to earn the save.
Crosscutters 5, Olympic 4
Olympic 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 — 4 5 1
Cutters 1 2 0 2 0 0 x — 5 8 2
WP- L. Dotson; SV- C. Dotson
Pitching Statistics
Olympic: Rowen 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 3 K.
Cutters: Velarde 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K; L. Dotson 3 IP, 0 H, R, 3 BB, 4 K; C. Dotson 2 IP, H, R, 2 BB, 2 K.
Hitting Statistics
Olympic: Trottman 1-3, BB, RBI; Fernandez 1-1, 2B, R; Dower 1-2, BB, RBI.
Cutters: Wood 2-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI; Velarde 3-4, 2 2B, R, RBI; Shaw 1-3, R, BB; Bruhner 1-1, R.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
