ABERDEEN — The Chehalis Little League 12U All-Stars will have to go the long way.
A win on Tuesday against North Central would have put Chehalis two wins away from a state tournament title. Instead, after North Central earned a 2-1 walk-off victory, Chehalis will need to win five straight to earn a trip to San Bernardino, California for the Northwest Regional Tournament.
“It’s the type of baseball you’re gonna be in from here on out,” Chehalis coach Dan Hill said. “Sometimes a team gets one more hit than you, and that’s kind of what it boiled down to today. But the boys played really well.”
Chehalis took an early lead on a passed ball in the top of the second, but outside of that, both offenses were held at bay.
Adam Elder held North Central without a hit through four innings, retiring all 13 batters he had faced in those four frames. The only batter that reached base reached on a dropped third strike.
The Seattle squad tied the game in the fifth with a double and an RBI single, and it opened the bottom of the sixth with another double to the left-center field gap.
Elder got the next batter to ground out, but when the throw went to first, the runner took off for third, drawing an errant throw that allowed him to score the game-winning run and send Chehalis to the lower bracket.
While officially on the hook for the loss, Elder allowed just four hits and two runs while striking out five in five and a third innings of work.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Adam,” Hill said. “He’s our guy on the mound. I trust him with the ball in his hand, and he delivered for us … I was bummed we couldn’t get a few more runs on the board for him, but that’s baseball.”
Chehalis had its chances to get more runs on the board, but more often than not, hard hit balls found their way to a North Central defender.
Both the third and fourth ended with hard grounders to short, which the North Central shortstop was able to field and turn two with ease.
Drew Hill finished 2 for 2 at the plate, while Elder, Dayton Lusk, Brantley Noren, and Cale Coleman each added a hit of their own.
One more loss will end the Chehalis All-Stars’ season, and they’ll need to win five games in five days. They’ll take the field again on Wednesday against the winner of West Seattle and North Kitsap.
“The name of the game right now is going to be throwing strikes, getting outs when we can get them, and we gotta hit,” Hill said. “Just gotta get the bats hot and keep them hot the rest of the week … It’s always exciting to keep playing baseball.”
