In a rematch with Wilder Baseball Club in the state championship play-in, I-5 Jeep Renegades fell into an early hole and couldn’t complete another comeback in a 7-4 loss Wednesday afternoon in the Single-A American Legion state tournament in Chehalis.
The Renegades outhit Wilder, 11-7, led by Weston Potter’s 4 for 4 performance with three doubles, but could rarely earn runs out of it, stranding five on base.
Getting the start on the mound, Alex Stafford pitched 6 ⅔ innings with 12 strikeouts and just one walk, but allowed seven runs — four were earned — on seven hits. Grady Wilson recorded the final out of the top of the seventh.
Potter finished with two RBIs to lead the Renegades, and Carlos Vallejo and Jack Nelson each added an RBI of their own, but the Renegades couldn’t come up with enough timely hits to earn a crack at the state title game against the North Idaho Lakers later in the afternoon.
Like most of their games this tournament, the Renegades fell behind early before finding their rhythm. Only this time, it was too little, too late.
Wilder put two runs on the board in the top of the first, and added two more in the third and fourth. Heading into the bottom half of the fifth, the Renegades were in the familiar place, trailing by six runs.
After adding one in the fifth, the Renegades found two more runs in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t fully complete the comeback.
