SHELTON — The Forks baseball team remained unbeaten with a playoff win Saturday over Adna, as the Spartans got pushed in their toughest game of the year so far.
Forks pretty much completely dominated the Pacific 2B League with only two close games all year. Against Adna, the Spartans got a walk-off fielder’s choice from Keaton Northcut in the bottom of the seventh to win 6-5.
Adna got ahead 2-0 and 5-2, but each time the Pirates took the lead, the Spartans rallied with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the bottom of the sixth.
In the seventh, Gunner Rogers opened the inning with a single and moved to second on a walk by Riley Pursley. Rogers stole third and Pursley stole second to put the winning run 90 feet away from home.
Northcut hit a grounder to shortstop and the throw came home, but Rogers beat the throw to score the winning run.
Forks (13-0) now plays Napavine (9-5) at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Adna High School in the District 4 2B Tournament. Win or lose, the Spartans will move on to play Friday or Saturday in the next round of the tournament.
Dalton Kilmer was 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored, an RBI and a walk for the Spartans. Rogers was 1-for-3 with a run scored, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base. Northcut finished with a hit, two runs scored, an RBI and a walk.
On the mound, Logan Olson started and got the win. He pitched 6⅔ innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits. He struck out 10 and walked two.
Forks 6, Adna 5
Adna 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 — 5 8 2
Forks 0 0 0 0 2 3 1 — 6 6 2
WP: Olson. SV: Urvina.
Pitching
Forks — Olson 6.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 10 K, 2 BB; Urvina 0.1 IP, BB.
Hitting
Forks — L Kilmer 2-3, 2B, R, RBI, BB; Northcut 1-3, 2 R, RBI, BB; Rogers 1-3, R, RBI, BB, SB; Olson 1-2, 2 HBP; Davis 1-4, R; Pursley 0-2, 2 BB, 2 SB; Salazar 0-4, R, 2 SB.
Port Angeles baseball
PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles baseball team will host a Bi-District tournament playoff game Tuesday at Civic Field.
The game against Franklin Pierce will begin at 4:15 p.m.
The Roughriders finished third among the 2A teams in the Olympic League with an 8-6 record (9-8 overall). Franklin Pierce finished sixth in the South Puget Sound League (4-10, 7-11).
The Riders were seeded No. 9 out of 16 teams in the tournament. Franklin Pierce is seeded No. 14. The top eight seeds in the tournament get to play double-elimination, which means the Riders must win four straight games to qualify for the state 2A tournament. If the Riders win, they will play either Olympic or Enumclaw on the road Wednesday.
North Kitsap, the No. 2-ranked team in the state in 2A, is seeded No. 1 in the tournament. Olympic is seeded No. 7, Bremerton No. 10 and Kingston No. 13.
Bainbridge, part of the Olympic League, will play in a 3A district tournament.
Boys soccer
Lindbergh 5, Port Angeles 0
RENTON — The Port Angeles boys soccer team had one last chance to qualify for the Bi-District tournament, but the Roughriders’ season came to a close with a 5-0 loss to Lindbergh in Renton.
Lindbergh and Port Angeles were both vying for one of the final wild card slots in the tournament, with Lindbergh holding a slight edge in Ratings Percentage Index. With the win, Lindbergh qualified for the postseason.
“The Eagles capitalized very early on a couple of Rider defensive mistakes to make it 1-0 in the first couple minutes of the game,” said coach Chris Saari. “After the first goal, Port Angeles settled in and was able to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard until late in the first half (38th minute) when Lindbergh scored on a long-range shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down and in past Riders goalie Niko Ross.
“Niko was filling in admirably for PA in goal who were without their two normal goaltenders for the match,” Saari said.
Port Angeles changed formation to try and get back in the game in the second half, but the Eagles scored three goals in the second to pull away.
“Lindbergh was a strong side with skillful players that moved the ball around well and kept possession for the majority of the game,” Saari said.
Josiah Long and Jacob Miller both had high work rates in the midfield and at forward for the Riders and had a couple of chances to score, according to Saari. He named them the transition players of the match. He named Ross and Caden White his defensive players of the match.
The Riders finished 5-11 overall and 4-10 in league.
Port Angeles will return eight starters next year and will look to get the program back into consistent year to year playoff contention going forward. Graduating are seniors Dominick Fischer (captain), Damon Gundersen (captain), Xander Maestas, Caleb McLarty, Ethan Michaelis and Ross.
Life Christian 3, East Jefferson 0
TACOMA — The East Jefferson soccer team lost its West Central District III 1A tournament opener 3-0 Friday to Life Christian, ending the Rivals’ season.
“They played neat and tidy,” coach Robert Cantley said of Life Christian. “They deserved the 3-0 win. We couldn’t find a solution to the challenges they gave us.”
Cantley thought East Jefferson had a good season overall to make the postseason with only three or four players who had played select soccer and some players who hadn’t played for a couple of years because of the pandemic.
“Overall, I think we did rather well considering the challenges,” Cantley said.
Next year, the East Jefferson girls and boys teams can look forward to new Rivals jerseys.
East Jefferson completed its season with a 5-11-1 record.
King’s Way Christian 3, Forks 0
FORKS — The Forks soccer team lost to King’s Way Christian 3-0 in its District 4 2B/1A tournament opener, but the Spartans are still alive in the tournament.
Forks (10-7) hosts Winlock (6-8-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a second-round match up. The Spartans must win to stay alive. If they do win, they next play Thursday on the road against either Tenino or Montesano.
