(Chehalis, WA)
On Wednesday, W.F. West hosted Aberdeen in the second game of a home-and-home series between the two sides. Aberdeen is in a battle with Rochester for the fourth spot in the 2A EVCO while W.F. West is comfortably in second place while being in the top 10 for RPI in 2A. The night before, W.F. West beat the Bobcats 8-2 in Aberdeen but it was their turn to host the two league foes.
W.F. West’s Braden Jones took the hill for the Bearcats and he had a really great outing as he would go for four innings, give up just three hits, and struck out five Bobcats all while not allowing a single run. The Bearcats offense wasted no time getting runs on the board as they would send eight batters to the plate in the first inning. W.F. West would also steal 3 bases in the first while scoring four runs on three hits. Deacon Meller, Weston Potter, Ross Kelley, and Gavin Fugate would score those four runs as they make up four of the first five batters in the order. Jones continued his success in the top of the second with a pair of strikeouts and in the bottom of the inning, he would help himself with a sac fly. W.F. West added on three more runs with the help of two Aberdeen errors. In the third, Aberdeen saw their first runner in scoring position but were unable to cash in on the opportunity. In the bottom of the third, W.F. West would be held scoreless despite having runners on second and third.
After a 1-2-3 inning for Jones in the top of the fourth, the Bearcats offense picked up again with two more runs scored and three more hits to take a 9-0 lead. In the 5th, Aberdeen was able to put two runs on the board and got their offense going with great hitting. The Bobcats would get four hits while sending seven players to the plate as W.F. West went to the bullpen with Miles Martin, who was able to get out of a jam with a strikeout to end the top of the 5th with a 9-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning, the Bobcats struggled to find the strike zone as they issued five walks and gave up three runs before recording an out to reach the ten-run threshold. W.F. West would win 12-2 in an impressive offensive performance.
Our Thorbeckes MVP was W.F. West first baseman, Gavin Fugate. Fugate had two doubles, scored twice, had two stolen bases, and reached base every plate appearance while having a great game defensively as well.
W.F. West plays Tumwater tomorrow, a game that will be streamed here on ESN.
Aberdeen plays Rochester on Monday and Tuesday to decide who will be in fourth place and advance to Districts.
Video Highlight
You can watch the entire game on the NFHS Network on-demand. Subscriptions are $11.99 per month and gives you access to the entire NFHS Network all across the country to watch the live broadcasts or any on-demand games. Go to https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/affiliates/eli-sports-network to sign-up if you don’t have a subscription or to find the on-demand replay of this game.