YAKIMA — Wilder Junior’s tenure at the American Legion AA State Baseball Tournament was cut short in a 4-0 loss to the Pullman Posse on Sunday at Davis High School.
The area ballclub was eliminated from the state tournament with the defeat.
Wilder could muster only three hits against Pullman starter Carson Coulter, who tossed a complete-game shutout with one walk and four strikeouts.
“We hit a lot of balls hard today, but right at people,” head coach Zac Moore said.
“We couldn’t get a bounce to go our way.”
Moore said he thought his squad was still thinking about Saturday’s 8-7 defeat against the Yakima Valley Peppers.
“Honestly, losing that close one [Saturday] carried over into this one.”
Wilder starter Silas Thomas allowed just two hits and one run through 5 2/3 innings, but couldn’t get the third out in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Thomas yielded four straight hits and a walk before he was relieved as Pullman plated three more runs for a 4-0 lead.
“We just couldn’t put it all together today,” Moore said.
“I’m proud of our kids. They were really great this summer and the junior club is still pretty young, so there’s obviously bright futures for these kids.”
Wilder Junior wrapped the summer with an 18-13 record.
Pullman Posse 4, Wilder Junior 0
Junior 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 3 0
Posse 1 0 0 0 0 3 X— 4 6 0
WP: Coulter LP: Thomas
Pitching
Wilder Junior — Thomas 5.2IP, 6H, 4ER, BB, 2K; Bear 0.1IP, K.
Pullman — Coulter 7IP, 3H, 0R, BB, 4K.
Hitting
Wilder Junior — Olson 1-3, Thomas 1-2, BB; Bradow 1-3.
Pullman — Lavielle 2-2, 2B, R; Gingerich 1-3, RBI; Held 1-3, R, RBI.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
