CLACKAMAS, Ore. — Wilder Baseball is turning into quite the tournament team.
The area all-star squad moved within a win of its third straight tournament final after splitting a pair of games at the 12th annual Diamond Classic at Clackamas High School on Friday and Saturday.
One day after losing to tournament fill-in Tigard, Ore., 11-8, Wilder blasted Centennial of Portland, Ore., 11-1 in five innings to assure itself a spot in today’s semifinals against Westview of Portland, Ore.
It will mark the second year in a row Wilder faces Westview — the reigning Class 6A Oregon state champions — in the semis. The Wildcats beat Wilder 4-2 in last summer’s game.
“They pitch and play defense. That’s going to win you games in the long run,” Wilder (11-8 overall) coach Rob Merritt said.
Westview features Oregon’s 6A player of the year, Carson Kelly; a shortstop and pitcher who has been clocked in the low 90s.
Merritt said he wasn’t sure if the top end college prospect would pitch against Wilder today, but “it wouldn’t surprise me.”
Meanwhile, Wilder will send Port Angeles ace A.J. Konopaski to the hill against the Wildcats.
Win, and the Senior Babe Ruth squad will take on the winner of today’s other semifinal between Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Yakima Pepsi Pak in the 5:45 p.m. final.
Lose, and it would face the loser of that same game immediately after playing Westview.
“Either way it’s tough,” Merritt said. “But that’s why we come here.”
Wilder moved to 11-3 in tournament play after winning one of two this weekend.
That record is a bit deceiving, however, since Friday’s loss to Tigard didn’t really count.
Tigard was brought into the tournament as a fill in team after Albany, Ore., dropped out. Thus, Wilder was awarded with a win in its pool before play began.
With nothing on the line, Merritt started some of his younger players only to see hurler Wesley Giddings give up seven runs in the first two innings, four of which were unearned.
In all, Wilder totaled six errors in the loss.
Even so, the team rallied back to within a run by the top of the fifth.
But reliever Derek Crain was hit for four runs in the next two frames and the all-stars saw their five-game win streak come to an end.
“They knew the game didn’t count so I think we shut down early, which we shouldn’t do,” Merritt said.
The all-stars responded in a must-win situation Saturday, smacking 10 hits and scoring 11 runs in less than five innings to make quick work of Centennial.
Port Angeles’ Cody Sullivan went the distance on the mound for Wilder, giving up four hits and one walk while striking out eight.
Chimacum’s Austin McConnell led the team at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
Teammate Isaac Yamamoto of Sequim was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, two runs and an inside-the-park home run.
“We can play better,” Merritt said. “We’re hitting the ball fairly well [and] our pitching is starting to come around. We just got to avoid the errors.
“It seems like when we boot the ball, we boot it in bunches. That’s really what kills you. You can’t give teams extra outs.”
Wilder 11, Centennial (Portland) 1
Cent. 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 4 3
Wilder 3 0 0 3 5 — 11 10 1
WP- Sullivan (2-2); LP- Davies
Pitching Statistics
Cent.: Davies 4.2IP.
Wilder: Sullivan 5IP, R, 4H, BB, 8K.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: McConnell 3-4 (2B, 2R); Yamamoto 2-3 (2R, 3RBI, HR).
Tigard (Ore.) 11, Wilder 9
Wilder 1 3 0 1 1 0 3 — 9 13 6
Tigard 5 2 0 0 1 3 0 — 11 10 3
WP- Parsons; LP- Giddings (0-1)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Wesley Giddings IP, 7R, 3ER, 5H, 3BB, 3K; Crain 5IP, 4R, 3ER, 5H, 2BB, 4K.
Tigard: Parsons 6IP.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Sullivan 2-4 (2R, 2RBI); Napiontek 2-4 (2RBI); Gouge 2-3 (2R, RBI); Brian DeFrang 2-3 (2R, RBI).
