CENTRALIA — The Spudders’ 2019 baseball campaign featured a district title and a regional win, neither of which had happened in well over a decade.
It was a success, even if it may not have felt like it here Saturday at Ed Wheeler Field.
“It was a wild ride,” Ridgefield coach Nick Allen said. “It’s been a wild ride all season, but that’s what playoff baseball’s about.”
But wild rides tend to feature rough patches, and one particular rough patch in a 7-2 loss to Archbishop Murphy in the 2A regional finals kept the Spudders from crossing off the next goal on their season wish-list — securing a spot in the 2A state semifinals.
Saturday started with a 9-3 win over White River. Spencer Andersen pitched five strong innings and the Spudders put the game away by scoring five runs in the sixth inning.
Archbishop Murphy, which spent all day wringing runs out of opportunities, plated five runs in the third inning and never let Ridgefield get its offense moving.
The outcome ended Ridgefield’s season with an 18-7 record, while the Wildcats move on to face Selah in the semifinals on Friday in Yakima.
“We just didn’t play a clean enough game,” Allen said. “You get to this level of baseball, and those guys are good. We’re good, and we just didn’t make it.”
That pivotal third inning featured a pair of infield errors by the Spudders. The second miscue, with two outs, put two runs across and left two runners on base for Archbishop Murphy’s Jack Johnson, who then launched a three-run homer to right-center field.
By the time the third out was recorded, the Wesco champion Wildcats had a 6-0 lead.
“There was a few plays we didn’t make, number one,” Allen said, “and number two, we just didn’t bring the energy and the focus we needed in that one.”
On the other side of the field, Archbishop Murphy pitcher Aiden Van Resum was in control. Van Resum, a sophomore, tossed a complete game with three strikeouts, three walks and two hits.
Both hits were big — one a solo homer from Spencer Andersen in the fourth inning, and the other a double from Josh Mansur — but with Van Resum limiting baserunners and the Wildcat defense committing just one consquence-free error, the Spudders could never mount a serious rally.
“We didn’t do a very good job of sticking to our plan, which was waiting on the fastball,” Allen said. “We chased a lot of offspeed stuff and kind of swung ourself into outs, which has been kind of our bugaboo this season.”
Kellen Bringhurst pitched four innings in relief for Ridgefield, striking out three with two hits and a walk.
Seniors Bringhurst, Andersen, Camden Ryder and Brock Harrison played their final games in blue and orange Saturday. Allen said he’d miss the senior crew.
“Everything clicked at the right time for us,” Allen said. “We thought we could get through that game, and we thought we had what it would take to get to next weekend. We just didn’t make the plays.”
Mountain View earns first state win
Mountain View made school history in the 3A regionals, beating Edmonds-Woodway 8-0 for the program’s first state playoff win.
The Thunder’s season came to an end with a 6-2 loss to Capital in the regional final at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue.
But Mountain View’s season had plenty of highs, including a 3A GSHL title and a 22-3 record.
Riley McCarthy allowed just two hits over five innings and went 2 for 3 in the win over Edmonds-Woodway.
Columbia River reaches regional final
Columbia River’s season ended in the 2A regional finals with a 6-2 loss to Sehome at Auburn High.
The Chieftains began the day with a 5-1 win over West Valley of Spokane. Nick Alder threw a complete game, striking out seven and walking none. Parker McNeil hit a two-run home run in the first inning.
Sehome scored all its runs in the first inning, then held the Chieftains to five hits.
