ADNA — As a howling gale came out from starboard Saturday at Adna, the host Pirates ambushed Ilwaco with a pair of big innings, sinking the Fishermen 8-0 in a return to play after a week off for spring break.
“I’m glad at the way our kids responded,” Adna coach Thad Nelson said. “We bunted the ball, we executed when we had to, we ran the bases well. It’s a nice way to come out of spring break and head into what I’d say is the meat of our schedule in league.”
Keeping ace Tristan Percival in the center field the whole game, Nelson instead turned to the rest of his staff, and four separate arms combined to give the Pirates a shutout. Asher Guerrero, Avery Manning — making his first appearance on the hill this season — and Danner Hoinowski all threw two innings, and Cameron Nakano pitched a 1-2-3 seventh.
Together, the quartet struck out nine and scattered four hits across seven innings. Ilwaco managed to put runners on base in each of the first six innings, but Adna sent the Fishermen back to the dugout with empty nets every time.
“They did a great job of coming in, throwing strikes, and trusting their defense,” Nelson said.
Behind them, Adna’s defense came to play, with Nakano making a sliding catch in right field in the third inning and throwing a runner out at third in the fourth, and Guerrero and Owen Fagerness combining for a double play to get the Pirates out of a jam in the sixth.
“We took care of the baseball, and after having a week off, that’s a real positive,” Nelson said. “We got some ground balls, some fly balls. I’d say our outfield defense played exceptionally well, not only catching the ball but keeping guys to singles and making good throws. That has been cleaned up since the beginning of the year, and it’s really nice to see.”
On the other side of the ball, Ilwaco chose to ride with its ace in Jacob Rogers, and while the righty avoided damage for the first two innings and nearly danced out of a jam in the third, senior catcher Sawyer Terry got ahead in a count with two down and changed that in a hurry.
“I really wasn’t thinking about it too much. He didn’t throw me strikes, and then when it was 3-0, he put one in low," Terry said. “I knew he was going to give me another one, and I just knew I had to swing for it.”
Terry got all of Rogers’ 3-1 offering and blasted it out to left field, breaking the deadlock and making it 3-0 on his area-leading fourth home run of the season.
“I couldn’t be happier for the kid,” Nelson said. “He’s put some charges into balls at the right time.”
The Fishermen started to flounder in the fourth inning as the weather briefly worsened, loading the bases on an infield single, an error, and a walk before plunking Luke Mohney to bring a run home. Another run scored on another error, and Percival blew things open with a 2-RBI single up the middle, before Fagerness made it 8-0 on a sacrifice fly.
Percival finished 2 for 2 at the dish, racking up half of Adna’s four hits, walking twice, and scoring once.
Adna will resume its Central 2B League campaign Monday, opening a pivotal series against Toledo on the road.
