After a couple of rough outings, Hoquiam got the performance it was looking for out of Zach Elsos as the Grizzlies picked up a 6-2 road win over Elma on Friday.
Elsos had struggled in his last two relief appearance and an adjustment to his pitching mechanics made all the difference against the Eagles.
“I had my arm angle lower so a few people pointed out that I had my arm angled lower and that I had better accuracy from a higher angle,” he said. “I knew I needed to bounce back after having some not good games, and tonight was the night that I bounced back.”
Elsos benefited from some run support before he had to throw a pitch as the Grizzlies scored two runs in the top of the first.
Hoquiam got its first run of the game when Alex Reyes came around to score after an error by Brady Johnston and picked up another run when Michael Jump singled up the middle to bring home Liam Odell.
Hoquiam’s Alex Reyes slides safely into third base ahead of the tag of Elma third basemen Barrett Burbridge in the second inning. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Elma head coach Jim Hill said the Eagles can’t afford to make defensive mistakes in close games.
“Our big things is the defensive side of the ball. Our pitchers threw well enough to win today,” he said. “Our guys have to pick up ground balls, throw people out, execute bunt coverages and things like that.”
Hoquiam had some trouble fielding the ball cleanly in the second inning, allowing Elma to get a run back when Brady Shriver scored after an error by Jackson Folkers.
The Eagles then tied the game at 2-2 in the third when Brody Rustemeyer drove in Carter Jacobson.
Elma’s offense stalled out from there as Hoquiam got an RBI single from Folkers to give Hoquiam the 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth.
Elsos said getting the early run support helped him stay focused on the mound.
“It helped a lot. It took a lot of pressure off of me as a pitcher to know that I have my guys hitting the ball and getting me runs on the mound,” he said.
Hoquiam put the game out of reach with a three-run sixth inning. Hoquiam’s Joel Emery scored from third on wild pitch and Kyle Larsen singled to bring home Camden Templer making the score 5-2.
The Grizzlies added one more insurance run when Reyes scored on another wild pitch to put Hoquiam up by a 6-2 margin.
With neither team picking up an extra-base hit, Hoquiam head coach Steve Jump said aggressive base running was the key to generating runs.
“I thought Alex Reyes was great. I thought Camden was gutsy and we took a lot of chances at the plate and it worked for us,” he said. “Jackson Folkers did a really good job of getting guys in when they were in scoring position. I thought our base running was superb.”
Elma’s Brody Rustemeyer delivers a pitch to Hoquiam’s Jackson Folkers in the second inning on Friday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
The Eagles will be in search of its first league win after spring break when they take on Montesano at 5 p.m. on April 8 in a road game against Montesano.
Hoquiam will be back on the diamond on April 5 with a non-league home matchup against Castle Rock at 1 p.m.
Coach jump is still looking to solidify his pitching rotation early in the season and thinks that Elsos could be relied on more often going forward.
“After his last outing, he was a champion today. I loved it,” he said. “I really thought he had control the whole way and I’m excited for him. He may be that kid who ends up being a starter. Some guys are relievers and some guys are starters. He showed us he can be a starter. ”
Hoquiam 200 103 0 – 6 6 2
Elma 101 000 0 2 7 7
WP – Elsos (6.1 IP, 7 H, ER, 3 K, BB); LP – Rustemeyer (5.1 IP, 4 H, ER, 3 K, 4 BB)
Top Hitters: Hoquiam — Folkers (2-4, RBI), Larsen (RBI); Elma – Rustemeyer (3-4, RBI)
Montesano 16, Forks 1
Montesano jumped on Forks pitching early, scoring 12 runs in the first three innings en route to a 16-1 mercy-rule victory on Friday at Forks High School.
Monte (7-2, 2-0 Evergreen 1A) got out to an early 6-0 lead in the first inning on run-scoring hits from Parker Plato, Evan Bates and Shaydon Farmer.
Forks (3-4, 0-2) responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning against Montesano starting pitcher Ben Wills.
But the Bulldogs kept the pedal to the metal, scoring three runs in both the second and third innings followed by a four-run fourth inning to open up a 16-1 lead.
Monte’s offense smacked 16 hits off Forks pitching, led by Plato, who went 4-for-4 with four runs and two RBI.
Wills picked up the win for the Bulldogs, throwing three innings of one-hit baseball, allowing no earned runs with four strikeouts.
Trace Ridgway relieved Wills, allowing one hit in two innings of work.
“We got another really good pitching outing from Ben Wills and Trace Ridgway,” Monte head coach Mike Osgood said. “Both guys worked ahead in counts and didn’t allow a walk.”
In addition to Plato, Monte got multi-hit games from Teegan Zillyett, Bates, Farmer and Cole Daniels.
“Offensively, seven different guys had a base hit. … I’m really pleased with where we are heading into spring break,” Osgood said. “Kids are having fun, working hard and playing really good baseball.”
Montesano 633 40 — 16 16 2
Forks 100 00 — 1 2 3
WP — Wills (3 IP, 0 ER, H, R); LP — n/a
Top Players: Montesano — Plato (4-4, 4 R, 2 RBI); Zillyett (2-2, 2B, 4 R, 2 RBI); Bates (2-3, 2 R, 4 RBI); Farmer (2-2, 2B, 2 RBI); Daniels (2-2, R)
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Other Scores
Centralia 9, Aberdeen 1
PREP BOYS SOCCER
Hoquiam’s Hector De La Osa tries to get past Montesano’s Robert Thomas in the firs half on Friday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Hoquiam 5, Montesano 0
Hoquiam took what was a close game and turned it into a decisive victory with a 5-0 win over Montesano at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano.
Hoquiam got its first goal of the game in the 13th minute when Andy Garcia scored on a shot from the right side of the box to beat Bulldogs keeper Max Urbanski to his right.
Montesano had a chance to tie the game later in the first half when the Bulldogs were awarded a penalty kick after Ben Royer was taken down by Hoquiam’s Trey Brydon with the keeper out of position and an open net to shoot at.
The foul ended up working in Hoquiam’s favor as Jonny Smith dove to his left to make the save on Luis Muro’s penalty kick.
Hoquiam head coach Fidel Sanchez gave credit to Alex Peterson for keeping Monte’s Luis Muro in check, which limited the Bulldogs’ scoring chances.
“Alex Peterson marked up on Luis Muro. We had to show a lot of respect for Luis because he makes a lot of things happen for them,” he said. “We put Peterson on Luis all night and the counter attack was not there for them.”
Muro was taken out of the game altogether when he received his second yellow card of the night for jumping at a Hoquiam player during a throw in, which the referee determined was unsportsmanlike conduct.
Montesano head coach Rick Denholm said not converting on the penalty kick and going down a man in the 55th minute was too much to overcome.
“I think if we make that PK the mindset would have been a little different, a little more positive going into halftime,” he said. “After that second goal the kids got down a little bit on themselves. As soon as we got shorthanded, they really exposed us on that back end.”
Jose Juarez scored a goal in the 60th minute and Skyler Johnson went on a run and brought the score to 3-0 in the 65th minute.
Hector De La Oso scored a goal deep inside the box in the 70th minute and Hoquiam got lucky with its 78th minute goal as a Montesano defender scored an own goal when trying to clear a rebound out of the box.
Hoquiam’s Jose Juarez (21) celebrates with Cameron Bumstead after scoring a goal in the second half against Montesano on Friday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
“We didn’t want to fight with them throughout the game, so we wanted to make sure we scored,” Sanchez said. “That was the plan in the second half where we had three forwards. That’s when things started clicking for us and we were able to wear them down.”
Hoquiam and Monte will both be back in action on April 9. Monte will make its way to Tenino for a road game at 7 p.m. while Hoquiam will play host to Raymond at 5 p.m.
Garcia said he feels like the Grizzlies are starting to hit their stride at the right time.
“I feel like we’ve found our flow and we have the momentum to keep going and make it far this season.”
Hoquiam 4 1 – 5
Montesano 0 0 – 0
Top Players: Garcia (G, 13th minute), Juarez (2 G, 60th minute, 78th minute), Johnson (65th minute), De La Osa (G, 70th minute).
Elma 3, Ilwaco 0
Elma made up for its slow start with a flurry of goals in the last 15 minutes of the match as the Eagles picked up a 3-0 road win over Ilwaco on Friday.
Elma (3-3-1, 2-2 Evergreen 1A) got its first goal in the 65th minute when Rodrigo Luna found Manny Hernandez in the box off of an indirect kick.
Hernandez struck again in the 70th minute after receiving a cross from Cannon Seaberg to bring Elma’s lead to 2-0.
Gavin Blackett capped off the scoring for the Eagles with another tally in the 78th minute.
“Something kicked in and we stopped just playing and started using each other as teammates,” Elma head coach Carson Seaberg said. “We got crosses in and we didn’t allow them to play the ball out the back which helped us get corner kicks.”
The result keeps Ilwaco winless with an overall record of 0-3.
Elma’s next match will be a non-league affair at La Center at 7 p.m. on April 9.
Elma 0 3 – 3
Ilwaco 0 0 – 0
Top Players: Hernandez (G, 65th minute and 70th minute) Blackett (G, 78th minute)
Tumwater 2, Aberdeen 0
Tumwater got the best of Aberdeen in a battle of the 2A Evergreen League’s top two teams, as the Bobcats lost 2-0 on Friday at Tumwater District Stadium.
Tumwater (6-1-1, 3-0 Evergreen 2A) scored a goal with three minutes left in the first half and got an insurance goal with approximately 15 minutes remaining in the second half to take sole possession of first place in league.
Bobcats head coach Ben Barene cited Aberdeen’s Christian Sanchez, Hulizes Chavez and Christian Harp for their play.
Aberdeen moves to 5-1-1 overall on the season, 2-1 in league and sit one game behind Tumwater in the league standings.
Aberdeen’s junior varsity team lost 5-0 to Tumwater JV on Friday.
Aberdeen 0 0 — 0
Tumwater 1 1 — 2
Forks 7, Raymond-South Bend 2
The Raymond-South Bend Riptide fell to Forks 7-2 on Friday in Raymond.
Jose Delgado scored an unassisted goal and Jairo Jimenez scored off a rebound to tally the RSB goals.
The Riptide move to 3-3 overall, 1-3 in the 1A Evergreen League.
Forks moves to 3-2 overall with a 3-1 league record with the victory.
PREP SOFTBALL
Aberdeen 6, Centralia 4
Sierra Hammond willed the Bobcats to victory with an extra inning two-run single in Aberdeen’s 6-4 road win over Centralia on Friday.
The Bobcats (3-2, 2-0 Evergreen 1A) secured the victory when Hammond’s late-game hit drove in Randi Stewart and Katelynn Smith to give the Aberdeen the lead in extra innings.
Jalyn McDaniel then pitched a clean eighth inning to secure the victory.
Aberdeen head coach Scott Wilson said it was good to see his team battle back in extras after falling behind early on.
“They’re definitely a scrappy little group,” he said. “They don’t give up and it’s a great thing to see out of them.”
Centralia falls to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in league play with the loss.
Aberdeen will go on the road in search of its next league win when it faces WF West at 4:30 on April 9.
WP — McDaniel (8 IP, 3 K, 3 ER); LP — Kenzie Ulrich (3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER)
Aberdeen 000 022 02 — 6 11 4
Centralia 210 010 00 — 4 9 2
Top Hitters: Hammond (3-5, 5 RBI, 2B, HR), Logan Glanz (3-4, 2 2B); Centralia Courtney Spriggs (3-4 HR, 3 RBI)
