Centralia topped by Shelton at Cheney

The Centralia baseball team played on the diamond at Cheney Stadium on Saturday, where the Tigers were topped by Shelton 13-3.

Shelton scored early and often, scoring three in the first and four in the second to take a 7-1 lead. Another five runs across the fourth and fifth put the game in run-rule territory, and an RBI double in the sixth was good for the run-rule walk-off.

“(Shelton) came out and swung the bats yesterday,” Centralia coach Jake LeDuc said.

For the Tigers, Wyatt Van Der Hoeff, Kadin Yeung, and Jamie Conzatti picked up two hits apiece, and Conzatti drove in two runs.

LeDuc said he didn’t just like the approach of those three, but also the entire lineup. The Tigers faced Daniel Crossan, Shelton’s ace, and they faced more than 60 pitches in the first three innings.

“I feel like we’ve gotten better at the plate pretty much every game,” LeDuc said. “We just grinded out a lot of at-bats.”

After Crossan left the game, two more Highclimbers came on in relief, something LeDuc said could serve them well later in the series if they see those arms again.

Regardless of the outcome, LeDuc was also happy for the Tigers to be able to play in a prestigious environment.

“It’s the highlight for most of the kids every year,” LeDuc said. “We go through senior night (at the end of the year) and almost every one lists the game at Cheney as their highlight … It's awesome for the kids.”

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Centralia (1-8, 0-4 2A EvCo) will host Shelton at Fort Borst Park for Games 2 and 3 of their series.

“Hopefully we continue to play clean baseball and get better every day,” LeDuc said. “I feel like for the most part, we’ve done that, and hopefully we can carry that into next week.”