The Olympia baseball team was finally on the wrong end of a pitching duel Saturday, as the battle between Bears starter Peyton Crass and Tahoma’s Talon Coker concluded in a 1-0 win for Tahoma in the District 3/4 4A semifinals.
In a game that saw each team record three hits apiece, it was Tahoma’s Anthony Wagner who put the home Bears ahead for good with a sixth-inning RBI single to break the scoreless spell.
Neither team put more than one runner on the base paths until Olympia in the fifth inning, but the Bears couldn’t convert. Wagner’s go-ahead hit rewarded the second occurrence of two runners on base in the game as he followed up a pair of walks with a single to left field to score Grayson Turnbow.
Beckett Turnbow replaced Coker in the seventh and struck out the side to end Olympia’s district title hopes and preserve the shutout.
Crass pitched six innings and allowed one run on three hits and four walks while striking out seven. Olympia’s three hits came from Travis Kunkel, Milo Tolbert and Landyn Keister.
“Crass pitched his tail off again. He’s a bulldog and gave us a heck of a shot to win,” Olympia head coach Derek Weldon said. “Their kid was very good as well, and they didn’t give us anything. We had our shots, but they got the break today.”
Tahoma was defeated by Sumner 10-2 in the district title game Saturday.
Olympia (19-6) will shift its focus to the 4A state tournament as the bracket will be released Sunday. The tournament begins with the opening round and quarterfinals Saturday, May 23.
“I’m proud of the boys,” Weldon said. “We are battle tested and will have a great week of prep to play great baseball Saturday.”
