CLACKAMAS, Ore. — Wilder Baseball Team finally ran out of gas at the prestigious Clackamas, Ore., 12-team tournament Sunday at Clackamas High School.
After winning its first three games, Wilder lost two Sunday to capture fourth place at one of the top tourneys in the Pacific Northwest.
Wilder coach Rob Merritt played everybody on the roster and didn’t use any of his top six pitchers to keep his team fresh for the state championship tournament that starts Tuesday.
The double-elimination state tourney is set for Ephrata.
Wilder, which has an early bye, will take on the winner between host River Dogs and Kent No. 2 at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
The North Olympic Peninsula team captured fourth at state last year with a 2-2 record.
Wilder (22-8) tuned up for state by going 3-2 in the tourney, losing to powerhouse Westview of Beaverton, Ore., 4-2 in the semifinals early Sunday and then losing 3-0 to Barlow of Gresham, Ore., in the third-fourth place game later in the day.
“We played well the whole tournament,” Merritt said. “We did our job.
“Our opponents saved their No. 1s and No. 2s [pitchers] for the later games but we used our top six in the first two games.”
Merritt has a pitching staff 15 deep and he took advantage of that by using all of them in the tourney.
Against Westview, Wilder went against at least the third pitcher with heat in the high 80s or 90s.
The Westview thrower, a right-hander, went the distance, holding Wilder to two hits. He also had a two-run homer and RBI-double in the game.
A.J. Konopaski had one of the hits for Wilder, going 1-for-3, while Devin Manix also went 1-for-3 and he scored a run.
Against Barlow, Wilder was held to three hits.
Cody Sullivan went 1-for-1 with three walks while Isaac Yamamoto was 1-for-3 with a walk and Brandon Bancroft was 1-for-2.
Clackamas Tournament semifinals
Westview 4, Wilder 2
Westview 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 – 4 6 1
Wilder 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 — 2 2 5
LP- Hayden McCartney (1-2)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Hayden 4 IP (1ER, 3H, 2K, 2BB); Brian Senf 2 1/3 IP (2ER, 3H, 4K, 2BB); Trevor Drake 2/3 IP (0R, 0H, 1BB).
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: A.J. Konopaski 1-3; Devin Manix 1-3 (R).
Third-Fourth Place Final
Barlow 3, Wilder 0
Barlow 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 – 3 5 0
Wilder 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 3 0
LP- Easton Napiontek (1-1)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Derek Crain 3 IP (0R, 1H, 1K, 1BB, 1HBP); Napiontek 2 IP (2ER, 2H, 1K, 2BB); Isaac Yamamoto 1 IP (0R, 0H, 2K); Manix 1 IP (1R, 1H, 1K, 2BB).
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Yamamoto 1-3 (BB); Cody Sullivan 1-1 (3BB); Brandon Bancroft 1-2.
