KENT — Wilder Baseball ran out of gas at the 2009 Northwest Babe Ruth 16-18-year-old state tournament.
The North Olympic Peninsula’s young all-star team, which included nine 16-year-olds, was eliminated after going 2-2 in four games at the double-elimination tourney.
Wilder’s season ended with a 9-7 loss to the Seattle Pilots late Thursday night.
The Pilots scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 7-7 tie and held on from there, dashing Wilder’s hopes of coming through the loser’s bracket in the 12-team tourney to qualify for regionals.
“I told the kids [after the loss], ‘I’ll go out that way,'” Wilder coach Rob Merritt said. “We left it all out on the field. We didn’t just go through the motions.”
Wilder finished the season 23-15 overall and will bring back 11 players from this year’s team.
“It will be interesting [next year],” Merritt said. “Obviously we should be much better. We need to get about two or three more pitchers though.
“We’re losing [starters] Danny Romero and Chase Moore. They had 14 wins [combined].”
Both pitchers notched victories in the team’s final tournament.
Romero’s was a complete game gem that saw him strikeout nine, walk one and scatter five hits for a 1-0 win.
A.J. Konopaski scored the only run of the game after coming home on a passed ball in the sixth.
Following a tough 13-3 loss to the Seattle Dodgers on Wednesday night, Wilder came back with a gritty 10-8 win over Anderson Hay of Ellensburg on Thursday.
Moore came in relief of Cody Sullivan with Wilder down 5-3 after two innings of play. The Forks left-hander proceeded to hold Anderson at bay as Wilder’s bats caught fire.
Romero and Quilcene’s Brandon Bancroft each blasted home runs in the win, while Sullivan was 3-for-4 with a double.
Wilder battled back and forth with the Seattle Pilots hours later on Thursday night, tying the score at 7-7 after a three-run sixth. Yet Seattle responded in the bottom half, ending Wilder’s year.
Merritt said the team performed well this year, especially during one midseason stretch when it went 16-4.
That included a Firecracker Tournament title and a semifinal appearance at the Clackamas Legion Tournament.
“After the fourth game [in Clackamas, Ore.] we kind of hit a wall,” Merritt said. “We had a hard time getting our energy back after that. We ended up finding it back at the state tournament.
“I felt like maybe we could have won an extra game at state, but it was a great group of kids.”
Wilder 1, Northwest Crush 0
Wilder 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 – 1 5 2
Crush 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 1
WP- Romero (7-2); LP- Olson
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Romero 7IP, 9K, BB, HBP.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: A.J. Konopaski 1-2 (BB, R).
Seattle Dodgers 13, Wilder 3
Wilder 0 1 0 2 0 X X – 3 5 2
Dodgers 3 0 5 3 2 X X — 13 10 0
WP- Ronde; LP- A.J. Konopaski (2-2)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: A.J. Konopaski 3IP, 8ER, 8hits, 4BB, K.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Gillis 2-2 (2 2B, 2RBI).
Wilder 10, Anderson Hay8
Wilder 3 0 1 2 2 2 0 – 10 13 0
Anderson 2 3 0 0 1 0 2 — 8 5 1
WP- Moore (7-1); LP- Wyait
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Moore 5IP, 3ER, 4 hits, 3BB, 4K.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Sullivan 3-4 (2B, 2R); Napiontek 2-4 (R, RBI); Bancroft 3-4 (HR [1], R, 3RBI); Romero 1-4 (HR [2], 2RBI, R).
Seattle Pilots 9, Wilder 7
Wilder 2 0 1 1 0 3 0 – 7 12 2
Pilots 4 0 1 1 1 2 X — 9 13 3
WP- Ihme; LP- Bancroft (1-3)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Bancroft 4IP, 3ER, 7hits, 4BB, K.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Sullivan 1-4 (HR[7], 2R, 3RBI); Bancroft 3-4 (3B, R, RBI); Gillis 2-4 (R); Romero 2-4.
