Unable to keep its bats hot from a strong showing Saturday, I-5 Toyota Mountain Dew fell, 12-1, to the Yakima Valley Peppers in a winner’s bracket contest of the AA American Legion state tournament in Selah.
Though Mountain Dew stayed competitive through the first few innings, the wheels fell off in the fourth and sixth innings, and the Lewis County squad couldn’t come up with enough offense to keep up with the Peppers.
Mountain Dew had a good inning brewing in the third, with baserunners on first and second with no outs, but on the following at-bat, Austin Chapman was called out after a successful drag bunt for stepping on the plate.
That killed any momentum they had, as the next batters flew out to shortstop and centerfield.
Asher Guerrero started for Mountain Dew, lasting 5 ⅓ innings with five strikeouts, before Riggs Westlund finished out the game in the sixth.
Ashton Demarest knocked in Mountain Dew’s lone run in the second inning, and though Mountain Dew managed six hits, they committed nine errors in the defeat.
“They put the ball in play and we didn’t take care of the baseball, that’s kind of the game in the nutshell,” coach Kyle Sprague said.
Mountain Dew will play CDA Lumbermen at 4 p.m. Monday in Selah, looking to fight its way to the state championship from the loser’s bracket.
