Bearcats Back into State Semifinals in Senior-Driven Regional Wins

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The weekend started, and ended, with the No. 3 W.F. West baseball team’s seniors stepping up when it mattered most, and as the sun set in Chehalis at Bearcat Stadium for the Regional Rounds of the 2A State Tournament Saturday, the Bearcats walked out of their home field with a pair of wins, and yet another berth into the state’s Final Four. 

“I told these boys before districts that I couldn’t wait to coach the team that everyone had high expectations for,” Bearcats coach Jesse Elam said. “The seniors have stepped up. Today was senior-driven and senior-led, and it was so awesome to see, all of them were great.”

In the first contest of the day in Chehalis, the Bearcats staved off elimination and moved onto the quarterfinals with a 10-0, six-inning win over No. 14 Port Angeles in the morning.

Senior Hunter Lutman got the senior party started, pitching a complete game with six strikeouts, and pitching his second no-hitter of the season from the bump, allowing just one baserunner on a hit-by-pitch. 

Though the W.F. West bats took awhile to get going, a barrage in the later innings led by senior Gavin Fugate put away the Roughriders for good. Fugate hit a double and a triple, with the former being a walk-off hit that scored three runs and ended the game early by run-rule. The senior finished with four RBIs and also drew two walks. 

Jeron Martin in the 9-hole went a perfect 4 for 4 at the bottom of the order, with two runs scored and an RBI. 

Finishing up before Noon, the Bearcats had to wait, wait, and wait some more for the next game to finish, with No. 6 White River defeating No. 11 Hudson’s Bay in 11 innings to set up a quarterfinal matchup Saturday night for a semifinal berth. 

The Bearcats and Hornets finally got going at 4:50 p.m., and led again by a ferocious comeback from its seniors, the Bearcats took an 8-5 win to qualify for their second straight state semifinal appearance. 

W.F. West starter Braden Jones ran into some early trouble, allowing five runs in 2 2/3 innings of work, so the Bearcats went right back to Lutman, who had about 35 pitches left before he hit his pitch count for the day of 105. 

The senior delivered again, getting the Bearcats out of a jam and settling their pitching staff down over the rest of the game. 

“He came in and was unbelievable today,” Elam said of Lutman. “We haven’t seen that out of him all year, he pounded the zone, he had a quick pace to himself, he was amazing.”

Meanwhile, the Bearcat bats finally came alive, trailing 5-3, putting one across in the third and four more in the sixth to earn the victory. 

Fugate again went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Deacon Meller went 2 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI, and Lane Sahlin went 2 for 3 with two runs scored for the Bearcats. 

Fugate also helped the Bearcats record the final out, stepping into the game with the bases-loaded and two outs. The senior struck out the Hornets’ final batter to send the Bearcats to the state semis. 

“We were grinders today, that’s what it came down to today,” Elam said. “We grinded out at-bats, and I’m just so frickin’ proud of this team right now.”

The Bearcats defeated the Hornets in last season’s state quarterfinals as well, and with the win will move on to take on No. 2 Tumwater for the fifth time this season, and again the second season in a row in the state semifinals, this time in Bellingham at Joe Martin Stadium on Friday. 

The other teams to advance in the other state semifinal were No. 1 Selah and No. 5 Lynden.