BURLINGTON — Ty Bradow’s pinch-hit ground ball to shortstop scored Beckett Jarnagin and earned Wilder AA a 1-0 walkoff-win over Blaine in the first game of the American Legion AA Area 1 District Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Burlington-Edison High School.
“Our hitting wasn’t what it normally is but we stepped it up on the mound and in the field,” Wilder AA coach Zac Moore said.
Starter Josh Hildebrandt was tough for Blaine to figure out in his stellar 6.1 innings on the mound.
Hildebrant, a Bainbridge High Schooler who played for the Olympic Crosscutters last season, allowed no runs on four hits and four walks while striking out 11 batters.
“He had good velocity today and his curveball was staying low to the ground,” Moore said. “He kept it low in the zone, the umpire had a low zone and he was really effective today.”
Adam Watkins picked up the win in relief, taking over matters in the seventh inning and recording two outs while walking one batter and hitting another.
“Adam Watkins came in and shut it down,” Moore said. “That was huge.”
Moore said Forks’ Logan Olson made a stellar defensive play at third base in the second inning with runners at the corners.
“He caught a line drive in foul territory and threw the runner, who had left for second on a steal attempt, out at first,” Moore said.
“That was a really strong play for us.”
Moore also said catcher Zach McCracken was in good form.
“We played great defense today and Zach McCracken played really well behind the plate,” Moore said. “He caught three or four foul tips for strikeouts.”
The tournament was delayed a day due to rain Wednesday.
Wilder AA (16-9) will face the winner of Thursday night’s contest between host Burlington and Lakeside today at either 3 p.m. or 6 p.m.
The top five teams at the eight-team district tournament will advance to the AA state tournament in Yakima beginning July 27.
Wilder AA 1, Blaine 0
Blaine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 4 2
Wilder 0 0 0 0 0 0 1— 1 5 0
WP: Watkins
Pitching
Wilder AA — Hildebrant 6.1IP, 4H, 4BB, 11K; Watkins 0.2IP, BB.
Hitting
Wilder AA — Jarnagin 1-3, R; Bradow 1-1, RBI; Baysinger 1-3, 2B; Olson 1-3.
Wilder AAA splits with Bellingham
BELLINGHAM — Wilder AAA split its final American Legion regular season games against Bellingham Post 7, winning 2-1 in the opener and falling in a 7-5 loss in the nightcap Thursday at Sehome High School.
The outcome of the doubleheader earned Wilder AAA (13-3, 16-8) a share of the Area 1 League Championship with Lakeside, a team Wilder split four regular-season contests with earlier this summer.
Wilder yielded 14 hits in the second game, the final two coming on bunt singles that brought home Bellingham runs.
Wilder was efficient offensively, scoring five runs on seven hits, but was held scoreless over the final three frames.
Gavin Guerrero and Milo Whitman led the way offensively with two hits, including a double, each.
Bellingham 7, Wilder AAA 5
Wilder 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 — 5 7 1
Bell. 0 2 1 2 0 0 2— 7 14 2
LP: Scofield
Pitching
Wilder — Bradow 4IP, 9H, 5R, 3ER, 2BB; Scofield 2.1IP, 5H, 2ER, 2BB.
Hitting
Wilder — Guerrero 2-4, SB, 2B, R, RBI; Whitman 2-4, 2B, R, RBI; Bowen 1-3, SB, R; Wood 0-3, SAC, RBI; Hall 1-3, SB, R; Bradow 1-1; Merritt 0-0, 3BB, R.
In the opener, Ethan Flodstrom’s seventh-inning RBI triple was the difference for Wilder in a 2-1 squeaker.
Hayden Woods relieved Wilder ace Brody Merritt after two innings and struck out six while allowing no runs on two hits and a pair of walks.
Wyatt Hall drove in Wilder’s initial run with a two-out single to center to score Milo Whitman who had drawn a walk to open the inning.
Wilder AAA 2, Bellingham 1
Wilder 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 — 2 6 2
Bell. 0 1 0 0 0 0 0— 1 3 2
WP: Woods
Pitching
Wilder — Merritt 2IP, H, R, 3BB, 2K; Woods 5IP, 2H, 2BB, 6K.
Hitting
Wilder — Flodstrom 1-4, 3B, RBI; Guerrero 1-3, R; Hall 1-3, RBI; Adams 1-3, 2B; Jarnagin 1-3, 3B.
