Going a perfect 5 for 5 in a wild one out in Cowlitz County, the Pe Ell-Willapa Valley baseball team picked up one last win in the regular season Wednesday afternoon before the district playoffs, defeating Kalama, 15-9.
The Titans and Chinooks combined for 26 hits, peppering hits all over the field Wednesday afternoon, but PWV got the last laugh in the sixth, when Garrett Keeton hit a three-run bomb to give the Titans the lead for good in the non-league win.
“That was quite a rollercoaster,” PWV coach Kent Smaciarz said. “But just what we needed in a tune-up before Saturday. We were looking for a fight, and as much adversity as we could get from a low-stakes battle. We got it and responded.”
Keeton went a perfect 5 for 5 in the win, finishing a triple shy of the cycle with four runs scored and three RBIs. His brother, Connor, went 3 for 5 with two runs scored and three RBIs, and Derek Fluke went 3 for 4 with two runs scored, two doubles, and three RBIs.
It was more of a mixed bag on the mound for the Titans, who threw out both Keeton’s and Riley Pearson for at least two innings to get ready for the district playoffs set to start this Saturday.
Pearson pitched two innings, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Connor Keeton went the next two and allowed four runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts, and Garrett Keeton pitched the final three innings, giving up three runs on three hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
The Titans will open up their hopeful district run in Pe Ell this Saturday, with an automatic berth into the quarterfinals. That game will be played against an opponent to be determined at 2 p.m.
