CASTLE ROCK — Sam Lauderdale kept his cool early, when things could have gone wrong.
Liam Nabors kept his cool late, after he didn’t do too much early.
Together, they helped save King’s Way Christian’s baseball season Friday evening.
Lauderdale did not give up an earned run in his complete game, and Nabors hit a two-out, game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh, lifting the Knights to a 3-2 victory over Trico League rival La Center in an elimination game in the Class 1A District 4 baseball tournament.
King’s Way will face Montesano at noon Saturday in the third-place game in Castle Rock. The winner will advance to the 1A state regional round.
Nabors came to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second in a 2-2 game.
“I was started to see the ball a little better,” Nabors said, despite his 0-for-3 showing up until that point. “I felt confident coming into that fourth at-bat. Put the ball in play and hopefully something good would happen.”
His ball got through to the outfield, and pinch runner Matt Garrison scored the game-winning run.
“It was great to see my teammates rush out and start celebrating,” Nabors said.
Lauderdale struck out 10 in his gem, recovering from a tough spot in the first inning.
A hit, a walk, and an error loaded the bases with no outs.
“Elimination game, so I was a little more nervous,” Lauderdale acknowledged. “I wasn’t focusing on the base runners. I knew I was going to get out of the inning. If I hit my spots, good things would happen.”
He got back-to-back strikeouts before La Center’s Nathanael VanSoest drove in a run with a single, then Lauderdale got another strikeout. All things considered, giving up just the one run was fortuitous for King’s Way.
The Knights trailed for only a few minutes. They got two runs in the bottom of the first on a run-scoring single from Damon Casetta-Stubbs and a run-scoring triple from Garrett Wellman.
That was all the scoring until the seventh inning. La Center pitcher Sawyer Bierscheid also was cruising for much of the game. He struck out six.
The Wildcats would tie the game at on a two-out King’s Way error.
Lauderdale and Nabors said no one on the team gets down on anybody for an error.
“You pick him up. Don’t worry about it,” Lauderdale said.
“You make a mistake, you just have to move on from it,” Nabors said.
The Knights did not let it bother them, and then the Knights won it in the bottom of the seventh, living to play another day.
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 3, LA CENTER 2
La Center 100 000 1–1 4 0
King’s Way 200 000 1–3 7 2
La Center
Pitcher — Sawyer Bierscheid 6.2 IP, loss, 6 Ks. Highlights — Jack Ossenkopp 2-4; Nathanael VanSoest 1-2, RBI; Saige Keep 1-2, 2B.
King’s Way Christian
Pitcher — Sam Lauderdale 7 IP, win, 0 ER, 10 Ks. Highlights — Preston Danberg 2-3, 2B; Damon Casetta-Stubbs 1-3, RBI; Garrett Wellman 2-3, 3B, RBI; Riley Danberg 1-3; Liam Nabors 1-4, GW RBI.
