Spurred by the firepower of Kaeden Blain in the opener and steady offense in the nightcap, the Pe Ell/Willapa Valley baseball team made quick work of Raymond/South Bend on Friday with a 20-5 and 11-1 doubleheader sweep.
The two wins secured PWV (11-6, 6-2 P2BL) the league’s No. 2 seed for the Class 2B District 4 tournament and a home quarterfinal game on Saturday, May 9. It’s the second straight year the Titans will welcome two teams from the C2BL to Pe Ell.
Blain finished 3-for-4 with a triple and six RBIs in Game 1, half of them coming on a bases-clearing triple to open a nine-run bottom of the third. Max Jarvis capped the frame with a two-run double. An inning prior, PWV unleashed eight runs where eight straight batters reached.
The top-four hitters in the lineup – Kash Ruddell, Eddie Clements, Jarvis and Blain – were responsible for nine hits, 13 RBIs, 12 runs and six walks. Blain also struck out four to earn the win on the bump.
Game 2 was a similar story where the Titans opened with a five-run first, three in the second and two more in the third. They tied the game on a passed ball, took the lead on an RBI ground out and Camden Wetterauer made it a multi-run cushion with a two-run single.
Jarvis and Liam Lennox each had two hits for PWV while Mauricio Morales tossed four innings of four-hit ball with five strikeouts to snare the win. The Titans will battle Chief Leschi on Saturday before taking on Naselle on Monday.
