CENTRALIA — The Olympic Crosscutters flipped the script and it paid off with a victory.
After opening the GSL College Showcase baseball tournament losing two games in which they out-hit their opponents, the Crosscutters on Saturday defeated Showtime Junior Prep 2-1 despite being out-hit 8-3 Saturday at Borst Park.
And this time, it was the Cutters who scored a late go-ahead run, something that happened against them in their losses Wednesday and Thursday.
“We finally got on the on the other end of one of these,” Cutters coach John Qualls said.
Olympic’s A.J. Prater led off the home half of the sixth inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Gavin Velarde.
With two outs, Prater stole third base and then home to give Olympic a 2-1 lead.
Qualls and the Crosscutters’ coaches noticed Showtime’s catcher wasn’t checking Prater at third, so they called for him to steal home.
Prater took off a little too early and got caught in a rundown. He was hit in the back by a throw, then turned around and ran home for the winning run.
“A.J.’s fast,” Qualls said. “He changed directions like nobody I’ve ever seen.”
Cutters pitcher Lane Dotson allowed a single and a double in the top of the seventh, but left the runners stranded in scoring position by fielding Grant Francis’ grounder and throwing him out at first to end the game.
Dotson might not have won the pitchers’ duel with Showtime pitcher Andre Scheer, but he won the game by tossing a complete-game eight-hitter with three strikeouts and no walks.
“Lane Dotson threw an amazing game,” Qualls said. “He was dialed in.”
Scheer went the full six innings for Showtime Junior Prep, a 16U team from Vancouver, Wash., and allowed only three hits while striking out 10.
“We faced a hell of a pitcher today,” Qualls said.
Prater returned to the lineup Saturday after missing three games earlier last week with a knee injury and had one of Olympic’s three hits and stole two bases.
Velarde and Dotson had the other two hits. They also stole bases — Velarde had one and Dotson swiped two.
Austin Hilliard scored as a pinch runner for Dotson in the second inning, tying the game at 1-1.
The Crosscutters finish the tournament with a consolation game today.
They conclude their American Legion AA North League schedule on the road against North Kitsap on Tuesday, and then they close out the regular season at Tumwater on Wednesday.
From Friday through Sunday, the Cutters will host the American Legion district tournament at Civic Field.
Crosscutters 2, Showtime Junior Prep 1
Showtime 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 8 1
Crosscutters 0 1 0 0 0 1 x — 2 3 1
WP- Dotson; LP- Scheer
Pitching Statistics
Showtime: Scheer 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, ER, 10 K, 3 BB.
Crosscutters: Dotson 7 IP, 8 H, R, 0 ER, 3 K, 0 BB.
Hitting Statistics
Showtime: Copeland 2-3, 2B; Jennings 1-3, 3B; Beaupre 1-3, RBI.
Crosscutters: Prater 1-3, R, 2 SB; Velarde 1-2, SB; Dotson 1-2, BB, 2 SB; Hilliard 0-0, R.
