WA state baseball roundup: Olympia advances to 4A title with pair of big innings

It didn’t matter to Ambrose Driver that he was pitching in such a big game.

The Kennewick Lions looked to their sophomore starter to keep the Mount Spokane batters in check, and he did so — leading his team to a 6-2 3A state semifinal baseball victory at Gesa Stadium in Pasco on Friday.

“I’ve been in these moments quite a lot,” said Driver with a shrug. “A lot of Select ball.”

Driver scattered seven hits over six innings, striking out seven Wildcats on the way.

Lions coach Lenny Ayres wasn’t surprised that Driver handcuffed Mt. Spokane.

“He’s a sophomore, but he’s used to those big moments,” said Ayres. “He’s got that tough mentality.”

This wasn’t the first time Driver had faced Mount Spokane. A few weeks ago, in the District 8 tournament, the Lions beat the Wildcats 9-7. But it was a bit of a slugfest, with a few errors made by both teams.

So on Friday, Driver had a plan.

“I saw how they hit the fastball really well,” Driver said. “So I concentrated on using my off speed pitches today. My curveball was hitting the strike zone.”

Still, the Wildcats stuck with the Lions for the first three innings, matching them hit for hit, and it was a 2-2 tie heading into the fourth.

But Kennewick exploded for four runs in the top of the fourth, only needing two hits in the process.

Leyton Lind led off the inning with a walk, and Dane McClure followed by being hit by a pitch.

One out later, Danny Dickinson followed up with an RBI single. Chance Oldham then dropped a perfect delayed squeeze bunt for another run. And Braxden Salazar added another RBI single.

Suddenly, it was 6-2 Kennewick.

“Our offense has never had a problem scoring runs,” said Dickinson, who was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. “It was just a matter of time. We got that 4-run inning, Ambrose was dealing (from the mound), and I was going to come in to pitch the last inning. I just knew we could win.”

Dickinson closed the Wildcats out, pitching a scoreless seventh inning.

The Lions (25-3) were set to play in the state title game at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, and they’ll face Mercer Island, which beat No. 1 seed West Seattle 3-1 in the late semifinal.

Interesting fact about Mercer Island: the Islanders’ head coach is Richland High graduate Dominic Woody.

Mercer Island (18-6) is a 12 seed, while Kennewick is a 3 seed.

OLYMPIA 7, RICHLAND 3

The Bombers had a chance to play in the 4A state finals, but one wild inning of pitching stunted their chances.

Olympia, the No. 1 seed in the 4A tournament, scored four runs in the top of the third inning, touching Richland starter Cameron Kallsen for five hits in the inning.

But the Bombers (21-5) did what they do best: find a way to score runs in bunches.

In the bottom half of the third, Richland had five consecutive hits — from Deacon Boyce, Joey Weissenfels, Jace Vopalensky, Kooper Jones and Chris Daniels.

That turned into three runs, and after three innings it was a one-run game with Olympia leading 4-3.

But a strange thing happened in the top of the fourth: Kallsen, then Kenyon Coleman, then Spencer Green had a tough time finding the strike zone.

In all, the three Bombers aces walked six Bears batters in the inning, resulting in three runs and a 7-3 Olympia lead.

“We’ve been able to depend on those pitchers all year long,” said Richland coach Grant Richardson. “They’re three of the best pitchers in the state, and I wouldn’t them for anyone. It was almost like we got the flu for just that inning. Stuff like that happens.”

Richland could never recover offensively, as Bombers batters went 2-for-14 at the plate the rest of the way.

Boyce led Richland offensively, going 2-for-3 at the plate.

The Bombers were to play Skyline of Sammamish (16-12) at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in the third-place game.

Olympia (24-3) was to play Puyallup at 4 p.m. Saturday for the 4A state championship. Puyallup beat Skyline 3-1 in the earlier semifinal game.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.