HS Baseball: WF West Gets Revenge on Tumwater, Sets Up League Title Game on Tuesday

5/5/25

WF West 2, Tumwater 0

(Tumwater, WA) Back on April 18th, the Tumwater Thunderbirds and WF West Bearcats battled it out in Chehalis with both teams undefeated in league play. It was a decisive victory for Tumwater as they earned a 7-0 shutout victory to submit their spots atop the Evergreen 2A Conference. However, both knew that two more games remained between the two teams that would decided who earned the league title in 2025.

The first of those two games arrived on Monday in Tumwater where both teams had a ton to play for. For WF West, a win would keep their hopes of a league title alive and put their own fate back in their control. For Tumwater, a win would clinch the EvCo 2A league title and put Tumwater in a very good spot heading into districts next week.

Late changes for both teams began a seven-inning long chess match between head coaches Jesse Elam and Lyle Overbay. WF West left Weston Potter stranded in the 1st and Tumwater put together a threat against WF West starter, Grady Westlund in the 2nd. A walk by Luke Overbay ended up allowing him to steal second before Liam Gustafson singled to right. A bobble in right field would lead to Overbay being waved in, but a great relay from Miles Martin to Hiroto Smaciarz to Deacon Meller cut him down at the plate. Later in the inning, with runners on the corners, Westlund would step off the mound as Payton Davis broke for second. Gustafson would try to score while Davis was in a rundown, but Smaciarz would throw it to the plate to get Gustafson and end the inning with two outs at home plate.

In the top of the 3rd, Tucker Land reached on an error to lead off the inning. Land would end up moving to second on a wild pitch before Smaciarz moved him to third on a grounder. With one out and the top of the order coming up, Derek Thompson found himself in a tough spot on the mound but helped himself out. Deacon Meller sent a grounder right back at Thompson and he would look Land back to third before throwing out Meller. Thompson would then hit Ross Kelley, but got Weston Potter to strikeout as he escaped the inning unharmed.

Both Westlund and Thompson flew through the 4th and in the 5th the Bearcats threatened again. A one-out single by Hiroto Smaciarz was followed by a Deacon Meller walk to put two runners on with one out. Ross Kelley moved the runners up with a grounder to third but was thrown out for a big second out. In stepped Weston Potter for his third at-bat and all of them came with two outs. However, Potter battled before sending a hard grounder that just got a piece of the third baseman’s glove before trickling into left field. Smaciarz scored and Gustafson’s throw to the plate would not be in time as Meller avoided the tag. The two-out, two-run single had given the Bearcats the first runs of the game and a 2-0 lead.

Westlund would escape trouble in the 5th and a double play helped him face the minimum in the 6th. WF West threatened to add on in the 6th with Miles Martin on second. A base hit to right field by Tucker Land would look to extend the lead but Martin got the stop sign at third as Luke Overbay delivered an absolute strike from right field which prevented a run. Thompson would escape the jam with a groundout.

In the 7th, Braeden Konrad took over on the mound and got in some hot water against the top of the Bearcat order. A single by Deacon Meller was followed by Ross Kelley being hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. With runners on first and second with nobody out, Weston Potter sent a hard grounder right back at Konrad. He would field his position and cutdown Meller at third for the first out. Konrad then stepped off as Kelley broke for third and picked off the Bearcat shortstop for the second out. After walking Carlos Vallejo, Konrad got Alex Stafford to fly out to keep the game at 2-0 going into the bottom of the 7th.

Grady Westlund would only throw two pitches in the inning, hitting Landon Roy before throwing a ball to Luke Overbay. Jesse Elam would bring in Connor Coleman who inherited a 1-0 count, but the lefty battled back to strikeout Luke Overbay looking. Kyson Sayamnet would run for Roy and stole second to put a runner in scoring position for pinch hitter, Charlie Crawford. Crawford would serve a line drive towards second, but Hiroto Smaciarz would make the catch and flipped it to Ross Kelley covering second for a game-ending double play. WF West’s pitching and defense would lead the way as the Bearcats earned a huge 2-0 win over the Tumwater Thunderbirds.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game went to WF West starting pitcher Grady Westlund. The senior pitches six scoreless innings and allowed just two hits while walking three and striking out five. In a must-win game for their league title hopes, WF West turned to their senior and Westlund showed up with a dominant outing to keep WF West’s league title hopes alive.

With the win, the teams have split the first two games of the season series. WF West moves to 17-2 overall while Tumwater drops to 14-5 but both teams now sit at 12-1 in EvCo 2A play. The third and final meeting of the series will take place on Tuesday at 4:30pm in Chehalis where the winner will clinch the league title.