By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
QUILCENE — The Quilcene Rangers baseball team won in about the most dramatic fashion possible to keep its season alive, capping off a huge comeback with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning from Brennan Filmer to beat Mount Rainier Lutheran 9-8.
Filmer’s home run in Tuesday’s win sends Quilcene into the second round of the Class 1B Tri-District Tournament.
Mount Rainier Lutheran got up 6-1 on the Rangers, who last week swept the Hawks in a doubleheader. Quilcene’s Olin Reynolds came in to pitch in the third inning and kept the Hawks under control and the Rangers slowly chipped away at the deficit.
Coach Darrin Dotson said Andy Johnston’s defense helped spark his team. Down 7-3, Johnston caught a line drive and doubled up a Hawks’ baserunner on first base. He then caught another line drive in the inning to account for all three putouts.
The Rangers clawed back to take an 8-7 lead, but in the seventh Mount Rainier Lutheran scored a run to tie it at 8-8.
In the bottom of the eighth, Filmer led off. He had struck out twice and hit into a double play earlier in the game, but one the first pitch of the inning, he crushed the ball for a walk-off home run.
Dotson said it was probably the longest home run he had seen in four years of coaching at Quilcene.
“The ending of the game was written right out of the movies,” he said. “[The] boys persevered and were able to push the mistakes we made behind them.”
Quilcene now plays at Naselle today in the second round of the Tri-District. If the Rangers win that game, they will qualify for the 1B state tournament.
Bellevue Christian 13, Chimacum 1
UNIVERSITY PLACE — The Chimacum Cowboys were victimized by an eight-run Bellevue Christian fourth inning in a second-round 13-1 loss in the West Central District 3 1A playoffs at Charles Wright Academy.
The good news is the Cowboys are still alive in the tournament. Chimacum (7-2, 10-9) plays Charles Wright (8-4, 10-6) at 4 p.m. today at Curtis High School in Tacoma. If the Cowboys win that game, they play again Saturday at Curtis High School against the loser of Bellevue Christian and Coupeville for the chance to go to the 1A state tournament.
The Vikings held the Cowboys to just three hits in Tuesday’s game.
Cole Dotson had a double for Chimacum, while Arron Serrato and Jonah Diehl each had hits. Diehl had an RBI and Serrato scored the Cowboys’ lone run.
Boys Soccer Franklin Pierce 1, Port Angeles 0
TACOMA — The Roughriders played tough against No. 1 seed Franklin Pierce, but fell 1-0 in the second round of the West Central District 3 2A playoffs to a team that has not lost a match all year.
“[We] had a few good chances in the game but were unable to get the ball past senior goalkeeper Noah Carver,” said coach Chris Saari. “Carver did a good job of controlling all of the balls coming into his box in the air. [We] put a lot of pressure on Franklin Pierce with long throw-ins into the box, but the Cardinals defended well with their heads and Carver was always gathering in high balls or punching them away.”
Port Angeles’ leading scorer Ben Schneider couldn’t put one past the Cardinals’ keeper.
“Carver came out to save a shot by Ben Schneider in the first half and came up big on a shot by Jace Levine in the second half to keep a clean sheet and send Franklin Pierce to the state tournament,” Saari said.
Franklin Pierce’s lone goal came on a breakaway by Gilbert De La Luz in the 21st minute.
Saari named Michael Scott the defensive player of the match for Port Angeles and Andrew St. George the transition player of the match.
The good news is, the Riders are still alive in the postseason. Port Angeles (7-5, 11-6-1) plays at 5 p.m. today in a loser-out contest against Washington (10-3-1, 12-4-2) at Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma. Washington is a No. 4 seed and was the second-place team from the South Puget Sound League’s Mountain division and the Patriots were beaten Tuesday in the District 3 tournament by North Kitsap 1-0.
If the Riders win tonight’s game, they will play an Olympic League 2A Division rival at 3 p.m. Saturday, either Sequim or Kingston, with a state berth on the line.
Highline 3, Sequim 2
TACOMA — The Wolves held a lead for a time, but a late shot off a crossbar refused to go in and Sequim ended up falling in a close West Central District 3 2A playoff match to the No. 2 seed Pirates.
Highline, which has a solid 14-2-1 record, got on the board early with a goal on a breakaway by Edwin Ochoa. The Wolves responded with a goal in the 15th minute by Liam Harris on a long pass from Evan James, who picked up the assist.
In the 32nd minute, the Wolves took a 2-1 lead. The score began with a shot by Ryan Tolberd that the goalie punched toward Hayuk Minano, who then crossed the ball to Mike McAleer for a goal.
In the second half, the Pirates scored a pair of goals and kept the Wolves off the board.
“We were a little tentative in the second half. I think we were trying to protect the lead,” said coach Dave Brasher.
In the 61st minute, a penalty was called on the Wolves in the box. Brasher said he isn’t sure what the penalty was called for, but the Pirates converted the kick to tie it at 2-2. Highline came back with another goal in the 74th minute with a free kick near the corner kick area that was crossed in front of the goal for a header by Jack Madsen.
Sequim very nearly tied it in the waning minutes. The Wolves’ Minano headed a pass past the goalie, but the ball caught the crossbar and stayed out.
“We had good pressure at the end, we just couldn’t quite get it done,” said Brasher.
The Wolves get a rematch with Olympic League 2a Division champion Kingston in the loser-out bracket. That game will be played at Silverdale Stadium at 7 p.m. today. Sequim and Kingston split a pair of matches with the Wolves beating the Bucs 2-1 early in the year and the Bucs coming back with a 3-2 win at the end of the season to wrest the Olympic 2A crown from the Wolves.
The winner moves on to play for a state berth (against either Port Angeles or Washington) on Saturday. That game is currently set for Franklin Pierce High School at 3 p.m.
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Compiled from team reports. Email scores to sports@peninsuladailynews.com or phone 360-417-3525.
