PORT ANGELES — The postseason has come to the Olympic Crosscutters.
The area team is hosting the American Legion AA District 2 baseball tournament this weekend at Civic Field.
The double-elimination district tournament begins today and runs through Sunday, with games starting each day at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The Crosscutters and seven other teams are vying for berths at next week’s state tournament at Capital and Olympia high schools.
The Cutters open the district tournament against Lower Columbia Silver tonight at 7 p.m.
This is the first-ever postseason tournament for the Cutters, who are in their inaugural season.
“We’re as ready as we’re going to get,” manager John Qualls said.
“I’m feeling really good about the team [going into the district tournament].”
The Cutters — made up of players from Sequim, Port Angeles, Chimacum and Quilcene — went 9-3 in Legion play this season and earned the district’s fourth seed.
Their catalyst for success has been speed, and lots of it.
In their past 11 games, dating back to June 15, the Cutters have swiped 67 bases in 86 attempts. That is an average of 6.1 steals per game in 7.8 attempts.
In their most recent game, Tuesday at North Kitsap, the Cutters stole 15 bases in 18 attempts.
Needless to say, they keep opposing catchers busy.
And it’s no secret to those catchers that the Cutters are going to be aggressive, so the runners have to pick their spots wisely.
“You can’t coach speed,” Qualls said.
“We just have to make them understand how to get good reads. We’ve worked on that hard all summer long.”
Quilcene’s A.J. Prater has 14 steals since June 15, and Sequim’s Gavin Velarde and Austin Hilliard have 13 and nine, respectively.
If the Cutters beat Lower Columbia Silver (11-1) today, they move on the play the winner between the Olympic Tigers (11-1) and Lower Columbia Black (10-4) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The losers of those two opening round games will meet for a loser-out game Saturday at 1 p.m.
Should the Cutters win their first two games, they will advance to the championship game Sunday at 7 p.m.
If the Cutters lose any of their games, they will fall into the consolation bracket, in which they will battle for third place.
Three or four teams will advance from districts to state.
Olympia is the state tournament’s host team, so it has an automatic berth.
If three teams finish ahead of Olympia at the district tournament, those teams and Olympia will claim state berths.
Honoring veterans
All veterans get into the tournament for free, and there will be a ceremony to celebrate military veterans prior to the Crosscutters’ game this evening.
At 6:45 p.m. tonight, veterans will be invited onto the field, where their names and branches will be announced. Veterans are asked to enter their information on a sign-in sheet at the gate.
“We’re looking to honor veterans,” Qualls said.
There also will be flag ceremony, and the national anthem will be sung by Trilby Bowe.
The first pitch will be thrown by Tom Lowe of American Legion Post 62.
Tournament information
Prices for admission to the district tournament are $8 per person 12 and older per game. Tickets for seniors and children younger than 12 are $5.
Three-day tournament passes can be purchased for $20, and three-day family passes are $50.
Little Devil’s Lunchbox will have a food booth at the tournament, and there will be full concessions as well.
Game canceled
The Crosscutters didn’t play their scheduled regular-season finale at Tumwater on Wednesday.
Qualls said the game was canceled due to the Cutters’ busy week.
