Oh how quickly things can change.
Through six innings, the Adna Pirates were rolling in the 2B District 4 Championship Game against Ilwaco. They held a three-run lead entering the seventh, and they were just three outs away from their first district title since 2017.
Moments later, the game was tied.
“It’s just one of those things that happens in playoff and title game baseball,” Adna coach Jake Overbay said.
The Ilwaco offense got going in the seventh to tie the game, and the Fishermen kept rolling in extras. They knocked off Adna 7-4 in nine innings to win their first baseball district championship in school history.
It’s the second straight season that the Pirates have lost in the district title game, and it’s the fourth time that they’ve lost in the title game since their last district championship in 2017.
Early on, it looked like Adna was going to roll to that title.
The Pirates got to Ilwaco’s starter early, scoring one run in the first and two in the second to chase him out of the game before he recorded an out in the second.
Ilwaco’s Dylan Pelas was lights out in relief, though, as Adna wasn’t able to add on.
“If there’s one thing to reflect on, it’s don’t let up,” Overbay said. “As soon as they started competing and staying in the game, we started to feel the momentum shift. And that’s where opportunities arise.”
Jack Pennington shut down the Fishermen through the first six innings, but a line drive single, a bunt single, and infield single to start the seventh chased him from the game.
A two-run single got Ilwaco within one, and a sacrifice fly tied it at three.
Pennington ended up on the hook for all three runs, and he finished with seven strikeouts.
“Jack threw outstanding again,” Overbay said. “We wanted to give him the seventh and the complete game opportunity, things just didn’t happen our way. It sucks that it didn’t end up the way it should’ve for him, but that’s part of the game.”
Adna went down quickly and quietly in the bottom of the seventh, and Ilwaco took the lead in the top of the eighth.
The Pirates weren’t done battling, though. Two straight singles from Beau Miller and Owen Fagerness put two on with no one out, and Talan Guerrero was hit by a pitch three batters to load the bases with two down.
On the seventh pitch of the next at-bat, Aiden Percival got clipped by the payoff pitch, bringing home the tying run.
“I told the boys, ‘the eighth shows us a lot about your character,’” Overbay said. “To still muster up a way to fight and now give in until it’s over. It’s tough to teach kids life lessons about baseball, but that’s one of those where it’s like ‘that’s what it’s about.’ Just finding a way to get it done.”
They weren’t able to string together another rally in the bottom of the ninth, though, as the tying run never got closer than the on-deck circle.
At 21-2 overall, Adna is still in a good position entering the state tournament. The Pirates are hoping to be a top-four seed to host a Regional next Saturday, and they’ll find out for sure if they are one or not after the seeding committee meets on Sunday.
Overbay is confident that his group will be ready.
“I said ‘whatever you’re upset about, reflect on it, but tomorrow’s gotta be the reset button,’” Overbay said. “We gotta know what this feeling tastes like and make it erase from our memory because if it sits with you too long, it becomes cancerous. The boys just need to reset and refocus.”
