CENTRALIA — Forks’ season ended with the potential game-tying run stranded 60 feet away from home plate as the young Spartans couldn’t quite complete the comeback in an 8-7 Southwest District IV fastpitch tournament defeat Wednesday at Fort Borst Park.
Down 8-3 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, Forks took advantage of a number of Rainier errors in the field to cut the deficit. The Mountaineers’ defense behind starter Elaina Henry imploded with a trifecta of errors on routine plays and the Spartans brought two runners home on singles from Avery Dilley and Katelyn Clark.
With two outs, Eighth-grader Brooklyn Rondeau connected on a two-run home run in the seventh, the second run scoring due to an error to pull within 8-7. Dilley then reached third base when her pop fly was mishandled and turned into a triple.
But with Dilley on third, Rainier induced a groundout to close the game and end Forks’ season at 8-10.
The Spartans had no seniors on the squad and could return the entire roster in 2026, 17 of 18 of whom were sophomores, freshmen and eighth-graders.
Rainier 8, Forks 7
Rainier 1 0 3 0 3 1 0 — 8
Forks 2 0 1 0 0 2 2 — 7
Pitching
Rainier — Henry 7 IP, 8 H, 7 R, ER, BB, 9 K.
Forks — Gaydeski 7 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 6 K.
Hitting
Rainier — Cruse 3-4, 3 R, 2 RBI; Naval 1-4, BB, 2 R; Anderson 1-2, 2 BB, R; Lantz 1-4, R, RBI.
Forks — Johnson 2-4, 3 R; B. Rondeau 1-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI; Dilley 2-4, 3B, R; Gaydeski 1-4, RBI.
Sequim 10, Bainbridge 2
SEQUIM — Ava Ritter and Mikki Green each drove in three runs as the Wolves closed regular-season play with a win over the Spartans.
Ritter and Ryley Doig notched doubles and Grace Gardner also had an RBI triple for the Wolves, who pounded out 11 hits in the contest.
Spanish exchange student Manuela Valle Jover added two hits, scored twice and drove in a run.
Sequim (3-11, 4-13) opened Class 2A West Central District Tournament play today at 10 a.m. in a loser-out contest against Fife.
Sequim 10, Bainbridge 2
Bainbridge 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 — 2 7 4
Sequim 3 0 1 3 3 0 x — 10 11 1
Pitching
Sequim — Whitehead 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, ER, 4 BB, 4 K.
Hitting
Sequim — Doig 1-3, 2B, 2 R; Green 2-4, R, 3 RBI; Kirner 2-4, R, 3 RBI; Giddens 1-4, R; Ritter 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Gardner 1-3, 3B, R, RBI; Valle 2-3, 2 R, RBI.
Quilcene wraps up at district
DARRINGTON — The Rangers’ season came to a close with a 9-5 loss against Darrington in the District 1/2 fastpitch tournament on Wednesday.
Quilcene finished 4-10.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at sports@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sequim’s Grace Gardner beats the throw and slides safely into third base with a triple during the Wolves’ 10-2 win over Bainbridge on Wednesday. (Emily Matthiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
