The Centralia I-5 Toyota/Mountain Dew AA squad walked off its way into the State finals Wednesday, riding off with a 6-5 win over Othello in eight innings at Burlington-Edison High School.
Cal Bullock led the bottom of the eighth off with a walk, and went to third when Conner Holmes put down a sacrifice bunt and Othello threw the ball away. With runners on second and third and nobody out, the Red Raiders elected to put Ross Kelley on, but it mattered little as Weston Potter took four straight pitches in the dirt to draw a game-ending walk.
Holmes went 3 for 5 with a pair of bunt singles. Potter and Alex Stafford both finished 2 for 4, while Carlos Vallejo was 2 for 3.
The Dewers led 4-0 early, gave up the lead in the third, and momentarily fell behind 5-4 before coming back to tie it up in the bottom of the fourth.
Brady Sprague saw Centralia through the regular seven innings, allowing eight hits and five runs while striking out five. His defense came up big for him in the seventh, turning a 4-6-3 double play to get out of a rough spot.
In the eighth, coach Bryan Bullock turned to Tate Quarnstrom, and the Rochester Warrior performed his second highwire act in as many days, working around runners in scoring position to strike out the side.
Centralia I-5 Toyota/Mountain Dew AA will take on the Kennewick Phantoms at Mount Vernon High School on Thursday.
