Terry’s 2-Out Homer in the 7th Vaults Pirates into State Semifinals

Posted

Down to its final out and down by a run, the No. 11 Adna baseball team needed a little bit of magic, and maybe even luck, to get out of its regional state quarterfinal matchup with NO. 3 Chewelah to move on to the state semifinals. 

Making the long trek over to the east side at Mount Spokane High School for a pair of regional games, the Pirates defeated their first round opponent — No. 6 Cle Elum-Roslyn — by way of a no-hitter, before rallying to defeat Jenkins (Chewelah) in the state quarterfinals via some late theatrics from power hitter Sawyer Terry. 

Facing two outs, Terry liked what he saw on the very first pitch of his at-bat after Tristan Percival reached on an error and Asher Guerrero hit a single to get to on, as the senior bashed the go-ahead, two-out, three-run bomb over the fence to put the Pirates ahead in the seventh, 6-4. 

That score would hold in the bottom of the inning, pushing Adna to a state semifinal berth in Ephrata against No. 2 Toutle Lake this Friday at 4 p.m.

“As I watched it, I thought we’d score a run and tie but it kept going and going and going,” Pirates coach Thad Nelson said of Terry’s home run. “He hits them at a moment that we need the energy, that energy through the team carries. There's been no bigger hit in his life or for us this year, that was unbelievable.”

Terry’s home run capped a strong day at the plate, where along with his home run he knocked in two more runs for five total RBIs against Chewelah, and hit a sacrifice fly in Adna’s opening round game against Cle Elum-Roslyn. 

But Terry wasn’t the only Pirate that saved heroics for the regional round of state. Percival had another stellar outing against Cle Elum-Roslyn, striking out 17 batters and not allowing a hit with four walks until he again reached his pitch count with one out left in the seventh. 

For good measure, Cameron Nakano checked in and struck out the final batter of the game in four pitches. 

Percival also went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a double, helping himself out at the plate in the winning effort. 

Then, in the state quarterfinal against No. 3 Chewelah, the Pirates enjoyed an early lead, but let that lead slip away thanks to a 3-spot by the Cougars in the fourth. 

Over the next two full innings, the Pirates trailed the Cougars, 4-3, until Terry gave the Pirates a two-run lead in the blink of an eye in the seventh, down to the final out of the game. 

“It was a weekend of some adversity, but what a great moment at the end of it,” Nelson said. “That’s a testament to the kids, I have not been around a group of kids that are as much of a team as this group — that pulls together and work for each other and works hard. They have responded to everything that's been thrown at them. We’ll go in and compete and we’ll enjoy this experience this weekend.”