RIDGEFIELD — Just start calling him Mr. Clutch.
Four days ago in the Class 2A District 4 quarterfinals, Tumwater High School’s Derek Thompson delivered the biggest hit to date. He broke a 5-5 tie against Ridgefield with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth.
He stepped into the batter’s box on Saturday in a 4-4 ballgame. And one of the best players in the Evergreen Conference came through again.
Thompson took a curveball from Grady Westlund and deposited it over the left field fence for a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Thunderbirds a 5-4 triumph over W.F. West in the 2A District 4 Championship Game at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex.
“We came up short (last year) and that’s what has been motivating us,” Thompson said. “We don’t get first in the league and I feel like we’re really coming together as a team. It means a lot, we’ve always struggled in this game. It feels really good to have that under our belt.”
Before the ball even cleared the wall, the Tumwater (18-6) dugout spilled towards home plate in euphoria. Its first district title in a decade came in a thriller.
Thompson was mobbed at the plate and when Activities Director Jordan Magrath handed over the trophy, the senior was the one to hoist it.
“I knew it was gone off the bat,” junior Braeden Konrad said. “Ran out there and blacked out a little bit.”
Thompson has struggled with the biting curve that Westlund throws. To him and T-Birds head coach Lyle Overbay, it is one of the deadliest pitches any arm in the league throws.
So when the right-hander sat on the first pitch, he figured he’d see it again on the very next pitch.
He was correct.
“I’ll give props to Grady, he’s a great pitcher,” Thompson said.
“It was good timing on the adjustment,” Overbay added. “Not a lot of guys barrel that up either. That shows what kind of hitter he is. He’s been able to put us on his back and ride it in pitching and a couple times hitting wise. That’s maturity, too.”
Tied at three entering the seventh, the matchup between two of the best teams in 2A started to increase in drama.
W.F. West (21-3) pinch hitter Alex Stafford poked a single past shortstop Cody Lambert and plated the go-ahead run in pinch runner Wyatt Hoffman in the top half for a 4-3 lead. Tumwater responded with back-to-back two out knocks by Peyton Davis and Will Bond, the latter driving in the former, to tie the game again.
Konrad ended his outing with a strikeout of Weston Potter to strand Deacon Meller at third. The T-Birds relief pitcher unleashed a scream walking back to the dugout.
“It isn’t just me out there, all-around team effort,” Konrad said after a four-inning outing with five strikeouts and only two hits allowed. “I was ready to go out there and give up a big zero.”
The Bearcats never came away with the timely hit to break the game open. They stranded nine runners in scoring position and left the bases loaded in the fourth and fifth.
“That’s what it comes down to, throwing strikes and playing catch,” W.F. west head coach Jesse Elam said. “First two innings, we didn’t do that. It is the way this game is sometimes.”
Tumwater grabbed the first two leads on an RBI single by Landon Roy in the first and a two-run double off the bat of Lambert in the second. W.F. West responded with a run-scoring double from Hiroto Smaciarz in the second and Ross Kelley driving in two in the fourth.
After Connor Coleman struggled with command, sophomore Emmett Goodman retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced for the Bearcats.
“Emmett is a dude,” Elam said.
Jimmy Womach and Konrad didn’t have a lot of innings built up, but kept the top-four hitters for the Bearcats in check with just three total hits. Tumwater also came away with five stolen bases.
“For the most part, they were contained and that’s the key,” Overbay said.
Both teams are already into the state tournament. What seed they are is a different topic.
W.F. West’s resume includes early season wins over Othello and Anacortes, but a loss to Bainbridge and a 2-2 record against Tumwater. For the Thunderbirds, they had four non-league setbacks and two were decided by a run.
Both Elam and Overbay didn’t mince words on who they believe headlines 2A.
“I think two of the best teams in the state are right here,” Elam said. “I thought we competed well. We were one out away. The game is a heartbreaker.”
No matter the path, the Bearcats and Thunderbirds are trying to return to Bellingham after a one-year hiatus. And both are looking forward to the state tournament getting underway next Saturday.
“They know what it takes now,” Overbay said.
