CASTLE ROCK — The Tenino baseball team’s second trip to Castle Rock of the week was well worth it.
Playing with their season on the line in Cowlitz County yet again, the Beavers made the most of the chance, holding off Seton Catholic 5-4 in a loser-out, winner-to-State game.
“I’m on cloud nine,” Tenino coach Ryan Schlesser said. “It was awesome.”
Not that Tenino — which has suffered its fair share of blown leads in the past two weeks — didn’t make it dramatic for themselves.
After the Cougars managed a pair of runs in the sixth inning, Tenino went into the seventh up 5-3. Going out for his second inning of relief, Jack Burkhardt hit the first batter of the inning, then watched him get to second when the Beavers tried to turn two, settled for one, and then had that out get called back upon further review.
Seton Catholic put a sacrifice bunt down and while Tenino got an out, the Cougars brought a run home from second, and put the tying run on third.
That’s where he would stay, as Burkhardt — who had walked four batters in the sixth — buckled down with seven straight strikes to end it with two punchouts.
“He just buckled down and did what we needed him to do to get us out of it,” Schlesser said.
Cody Strawn earned the win for the Beavers, allowing just one unearned run in five innings, striking out three and walking three more.
“He just battened down the hatches and got us through to the sixth, which was huge,” Schlesser said.
He also led the way at the plate from the No. 2 spot in the order, going 3 for 4 with a triple and two RBIs.
Easton Snider also went 3 for 4 lower in the order.
Tenino jumped out with two runs in the top of the first inning to give Strawn a lead to work with, and added to it with runs in the second, third, and fourth. But like in their loss to La Center in the semifinals, the early barrage gave way to a quiet span in the middle of the games.
This time around, while the Cougars would make their charge, the Beavers got their act together in time to seal the deal.
“I think they finally said enough was enough, let’s go to State,” Schlesser said.
The last time the Beavers made State, their seniors had just started middle school Before that, Tenino had made the dance in four of the previous six years, and Schlesser said that he feels the culture around Stone City is returning to how it was in those days.
“We’ve been good in the past, we know what the expectations are,” he said. “Our expectations are to go to State every year, and we’ve been building up to that.”
Friday, the Beavers hit that mark. Now, they’ll learn their future Sunday when the 1A State bracket is revealed. They’ll begin play in the single-elimination tournament next Saturday at a neutral site; two wins there would send them to the semifinals in Bellingham.
“Once you’re there, you never know,” Schlesser said. “Anything can happen.”
