Featuring one of the 2B classification’s most productive offenses, the Pe Ell-Willapa Valley Titans are never out of a game.

The Adna Pirates found that out on Saturday.

Facing a seemingly insurmountable nine-run deficit and the possibility of being on the wrong end of a 10-run mercy rule defeat, the Titans rallied to close to within a run, but eventually fell to the Pirates 14-13 in the 2B District 4 championship game at Fort Borst Park in Centralia.

In a matchup between the two 2B heavyweights and the last two teams to play for a state title, it was Adna that threw haymakers early.

Adna (18-2 overall) looked to knockout PWV (17-4) in the first inning, smacking four home runs in the frame off Titans ace Olivia Matlock, who didn’t make it out of the inning and was replaced in the circle by Dani Shannon.

“I don’t know that I’ve been associated with a game like that, where the other team is just hitting one after the other,” said PWV head coach Ken Olson, marvelling at the Pirates early offensive prowess. “Normally, you can find a spot in there where someone swings and misses or hits an easy blooper or ground ball. But they were all hitting hard balls and there wasn’t much we could do with it. … They found those pitches.”

Trailing 6-0 after the first half-inning, the Titans offense hit back.

PWV scored four runs in the frame on an RBI single by Raegan Portmann, a two-run double by Shannon and a Grace Huber run-scoring base hit.

Adna responded with three runs in the second on an Ava Simms double and Gracie Beaulieu sacrifice fly as the two teams continued to trade blows.

Olivia Matlock drove home her younger sister Lauren, who was on board with a one-out triple, to cut the deficit to 9-5 at the end of the second inning.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Pe Ell-Willapa Valley’s Lauren Matlock triples during the Titans’ 14-13 loss in the 2B District 4 Tournament championship game on Saturday at Fort Borst Park in Centralia.

But a walk to Kendall Humphrey followed by back-to-back blasts from Adna’s Karlee VonMoos and Brooklyn Loose put Adna up 12-5 in the third inning.

Later in the frame, Adna scored two runs on two errors to put PWV down 14-5 and face the potential of a of 10-run mercy rule loss.

Olivia Matlock and the Titans offense had something to say about that.

Shannon ran into trouble to start the fourth as VonMoos and Loose both singled. Adna’s Natalie Loose then drove a deep fly ball to left field, but outfielder Grace Huber made a clutch home-run robbing catch at the fence for the first out of the frame.

Matlock stepped back into the circle with one out in the fourth and seemingly washed away any memory of the disasterous first inning, regaining the form that has made her one of the class’ top pitchers over the past few seasons.

The senior right-hander held Adna scoreless in the fourth and was dominant the rest of the way, allowing just one baserunner — an intentional walk to VonMoos in the sixth — and striking out the side in the seventh.

“When we switched (pitchers), the game kind of changed a little bit,” Olson said. “(Olivia Matlock) was able to control them a little bit. They’re a good team and we knew that going in and they knew we were a good team.”

Meanwhile, the Titans offense got to work digging its way out of the nine-run hole.

After Merissa Frasier singled in the fourth and came around to score on an error, the Titans got back into the game in the bottom of the fifth.

Shannon opened the frame with a home run to left-center field followed by a Huber double and a one-out single by Jillian Hodel.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Pe Ell-Willapa Valley’s Dani Shannon, right, heads home after hitting a home run during the Titans’ 14-13 loss in the 2B District 4 Tournament championship game on Saturday at Fort Borst Park in Centralia.

With Lauren Matlock at the plate, Huber scored on a passed ball to make it a 14-8 game.

Lauren Matlock then singled after her second lengthy at-bat of the game followed by Merissa Frasier, who was hit by a Simms pitch to load the bases.

Adna ace VonMoos replaced Simms in the circle as the Pirates made a move to end any Titans notions of a comeback right then and there, but the floodgates opened.

Olivia Matlock stepped to the dish and sent a deep fly ball to the right-field corner that was dropped by Beaulieu, allowing two runs to score.

Portmann was then hit by a pitch and was followed by an Ava Bush RBI groundout to plate PWV’s fifth run of the inning.

Shannon struck out to end the inning, but the damage had been done as the Titans were right back in the game at 14-11.

With two outs and nobody on in the sixth, Hodel reached on an error can came around to score on an error off a liner hit by Lauren Matlock to trim the deficit to 14-12.

In the seventh, Olivia Matlock led off with a no-doubter, blasting VonMoos’ first pitch well over the center-field fence to bring the Titans to within a run.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Pe Ell-Willapa Valley’s Olivia Matlock shakes hands with head coach Ken Olson after hitting a home run in the seventh inning of the Titans’ 14-13 loss in the 2B District 4 Tournament championship game on Saturday at Fort Borst Park in Centralia.

Portmann struck out, Bush grounded out on a hard shot to short, then Shannon worked a two-out walk to represent the tying run.

But VonMoos beared down, striking out Huber to deliver the final blow, giving Adna the district title via a score of 14-13.

“We came back and really battled and it looked like they were having fun even when we were down,” Olson said of his team, which was still smiling and cracking jokes in the post-game huddle. “It was pretty amazing. I couldn’t be more proud of these girls.”

Lauren Matlock went 3-for-5 with a triple and three runs scored with Shannon providing some pop with a double, home run and three RBI to lead PWV.

After being removed down 5-0 with one out in the first, Olivia Matlock re-entered the game to pitch four shutout innings, striking out nine and retiring 12 of the final 13 batters she faced.

PWV will now enter the state tournament for the first time since the Titans lost to Adna 9-7 in the 2019 state championship game.

Olson and the Titans are looking forward to once against competing in the state tournament after COVID-based regulations caused the cancellations of the championship festivities the two previous seasons.

“Who knows? We may run into Adna against at state. If we do, we’ll battle them again,” said Olson, who added Saturday’s loss taught him much about his team’s resiliency. “I learned that we just have a ton of heart. We just didn’t quit and that, to me, is a sign of great kids. … We’re gonna be fine (at state). We’re going to go over there and, hopefully, continue to play well.”

PWV received the No. 3 seed in the state tournament and will host the winner of No. 11 Toledo versus No. 6 Okanogan at 2 p.m. on May 27 at the Gateway Sports Complex in Yakima.

Adna 635 000 0 — 14 18 6

PWV 410 151 1 — 13 13 3

Adna — K. VonMoos (3-3, 2HR, 3R, 4RBI), B. Loose (3-5, 2HR, 2R, 2RBI), Simms (3-5, 2B, HR, 2RBI), A. VonMoss (3-5, 2R), Davis (2-4), Hallom (1-5, HR, R, 2RBI), Humphrey (1-4, 2R), Beaulieu (1-5, RBI). WP – Simms (4.1 IP, 11R, 9ER, 12H, 2K, 3BB). SV — VonMoss (2.2 IP, 2R, ER, H, 3K, BB).

PWV — L. Matlock (3-5, 3B, 3R), Shannon (2-4, 2B, HR, 2R, 3RBI), O. Matlock (2-4, HR, R, 2RBI), Huber (2-4, 2B, R, RBI), Frasier (1-3, 3R), Portmann (1-4, R, RBI), Peterson (1-4), HOdel (1-4, 2R). LP – O. Matlock (4 IP, 5R, 5ER, 5H, 9K, BB).