3/27/26

(Chehalis, WA) There is always that calm before the storm as athletes transition from winter sports to spring sports but as soon as league play begins, the transition period quickly ends. That is what both the Shelton Highclimbers and WF West Bearcats dealt with on Friday afternoon as they began the Evergreen 2A baseball season at Bearcat Stadium against one another. The reigning league champs in WF West swept Shelton last season, including walking them off in the lone meeting in Chehalis. Shelton would look for a little revenge in this one.

The nonleague slate had been friendly to Shelton as they entered the league opener with a perfect 4-0 record. Pitching and defense had been the key to the Highclimbers hot start, but their third game in the week would test the pitching depth and the durability of the team.

WF West dropped their season opener to Camas before winning all three games at the Richie Sexson Tournament in Ridgefield to win that elite tournament for the second consecutive season. While the lineup adjust to losing some key pieces to graduation, the Bearcats hoped they could lean on their pitching as they worked their way into league play.

WF West 4, Shelton 3

It wasn’t a great start for either starting pitcher in this one as both teams scored in the 1st. Connor Coleman walked Ryan Brady to begin the game and Brady would steal second before moving to third on a wild pitch. Silas Hoff brought him home with an RBI groundout to second to give Shelton an early 1-0 lead. Daniel Crossan found himself in trouble early as well as Wyatt Hoffman singled to begin the bottom of the 1st. He moved up to third on a single by Connor Coleman before a pop up by Miles Martin brought home the speedy sophomore to tie the game at 1-1.

Both pitchers then settled in and both pitched clean 2nd innings with a combined five strikeouts between the two. Drew Helser would record the first hit for Shelton in the game with single to start the third before a courtesy runner came in for him in Michael Carlson. He stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Brady. With a man on third and two outs, Silas Hoff came to the plate and he clutched up big time with a chopper back up the middle. It got through into center field to bring home Carlson and put Shelton back in front, 2-1.

Daniel Crossan was locked in for the rest of his outing. He would allow at least one hit in each of his five innings pitched, but didn’t allow WF West to string hits together. In the bottom of the 5th, Crossan found himself in some serious trouble. With one out, Crossan gave up a one-out single to Wyatt Hoffman before walking his first batter in Hiroto Smaciarz. Crossan didn’t panic and recorded a big strikeout of Connor Coleman for the second out. He finished his outing by getting Miles Martin to flyout to right to end the inning and end his outing. Crossan went a strong five innings and allowed just one run on six hits with only one walk and seven strikeouts in a terrific performance for the junior.

Miles Martin cut down a would be base stealer to help Coleman spin a quick and easy 6th. Michael Carlson took over on the mound for Shelton in the home half and got in hot water quickly. A single by Alex Stafford started the inning before Hayden Rooney moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Stafford then moved to third as Hudson McCallum hit a grounder to first to put the tying run on third with two outs. Beckman Dvorak stepped up to the plate and smoked a hard grounder down the first base line. Mason Ehler made a great play to knock it down, but nobody could beat Dvorak to first, allowing Stafford to score to tie the game at 2-2. The Bearcats would then load the bases before a flyout to Jacob Jacoby in center ended the inning and sent us to the 7th all tied up.

Connor Coleman walked Zaine Harding to start the 7th and that ended his day as manager Jesse Elam brought in Hayden Rooney to pitch. Rooney struggled as he walked Michael Carlson to put two on with nobody out. Mason Ehler got a bunt down but a miscommunication by the Bearcats allowed everyone to reach safely to load the bases with still no outs. Easton Wagner pinch hit but his grounder to second was taken care of by Hiroto Smaciarz who cut down Harding at the plate for the first out. Gunnar Jensen sent a fly ball to left that was caught by Beckman Dvorak, but it was deep enough to score Carlson to give Shelton a 3-2 lead. However, WF West would quickly audible and cut down Ehler trying to move up to third to minimize the damage and end the inning.

Just like last season when Shelton and WF West met in Chehalis, the Highclimbers led 3-2 going into the bottom of the 7th. WF West came back to win that one and the belief was there this time around. Connor Coleman led off the inning with a double off the base of the fence in right field. Miles Martin got a bunt down and a low throw to first couldn’t be picked, allowing Martin to reach as well as moving Coleman to third. Alex Stafford continued the hit parade with a double to left center, scoring Coleman and tying the game at 3-3 while also putting the winning run at third in Martin with nobody out. Gunnar Jensen had to come in and pitch and he tried to pull a Houdini act but it wasn’t meant to be. Hayden Rooney battled and sent a 1-2 pitch into left field to walk it off. It was déjà vu as the Bearcats completed a 7th inning comeback to defeat Shelton 4-3 in thrilling fashion.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game went to Connor Coleman who had quite the day both at the plate and on the mound. Coleman went 3-4 with a double and scored the tying run in the bottom of the 7th and he also controlled the game on the mound. The lefty went six innings and allowed two runs on just two hits with three walks and nine strikeouts. While the number of walks was a little high, Coleman pitched around them nicely while also playing his position very well.

WF West moves to 4-1 on the season with their fourth win in a row and begin EvCo 2A play 1-0. The Bearcats will host Centralia on Tuesday at 4:30pm before visiting the Tigers on Wednesday at 4:30pm. Shelton drops their first game of the season, falling to 4-1 and 0-1 in league play. The Highclimbers will try to get in the win column in league play on Tuesday when they host Aberdeen and then visit the Bobcats on Wednesday, both games starting at 4:30pm

Notable Performances

Shelton

WF West

• Connor Coleman (ND)- 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO, 3-4, 2B, R
• Alex Stafford- 2-4, 2B, RBI, R
• Beckman Dvorak- 2-3, RBI

Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)

ESN Postgame Show

Highlights

Hoff RBI Single

Dvorak Ties it Late

Rooney Walk-Off

elisportsnetwork.com