5/4/26

(Chehalis, WA) With two meetings this week, only the Tumwater Thunderbirds and WF West Bearcats could still win the Evergreen 2A league title. WF West held the edge with a two-game lead in the standings as well as the head-to-head advantage after beating Tumwater in the first meeting 8-5. It was a similar situation last year but the roles were reversed as the Bearcats needed to win both games to win the league which is just what they did. This year, Tumwater would look to give WF West a taste of their own medicine and steal the league title in the final week of the season.

Tumwater 5, WF West 3

The scoring started early in this one as Tumwater jumped out to an immediate lead. Max Bunn worked a one-out walk in the 1st before a single by Luke Overbay put two on. Connor Coleman would hit Jimmy Womach to load the bases for Charlie Crawford. The left fielder hit a grounder to second but was able to beat out the throw to first to avoid the double play and score Bunn to make it 1-0. With runners on the corners, Crawford seemed to be picked off but stayed in a rundown which allowed Luke Overbay to score from third to make it 2-0. While Crawford would eventually get thrown out trying to steal third, it was already a great start for Tumwater with a 2-0 lead.

WF West wouldn’t waste anytime getting those runs back. Wyatt Hoffman began the bottom of the 1st with an opposite field double before a bunt single by Hiroto Smaciarz put runners on the corners with nobody out. Alex Stafford grounded out to second which brough home Hoffman and moved Smaciarz to third after he stole second to make it 2-1. Smaciarz would be tagged out at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch but Connor Coleman kept the inning alive with a double. A walk to Gage Wiens would then see Coleman steal third. He scored on a wild pitch to even things up early at 2-2.

Connor Coleman would face the minimum in the 2nd while Luke Overbay stranded a couple of singles to keep the score 2-2 into the 3rd. Tumwater would get some traffic on a bunt single by Peyton Davis and he moved to second on a bunt by Max Bunn. With two outs, WF West elected to pitch to Luke Overbay and he made them pay with a base hit right back up the middle. The two-out knock broke the tie and put Tumwater back in front 3-2.

Once again, WF West was right there with a response. Walks to Alex Stafford and Gage Wiens along with Connor Coleman being hit loaded the bases with nobody out. After a quick word with manager Lyle Overbay, Luke seemed to settle down as he struck out Beckman Dvorak for the first out. Miles Martin would then sky one to deep left field. All the runners held up as it looked like the ball might be caught. Instead, it got down and one-hopped the fence. Stafford scored but a perfect relay would cut down the second runner at the plate as Crawford got the ball to Wyatt Chase who threw a strike to Jimmy Womach at the plate. Bases loaded with nobody out turned into just one run for the Bearcats as Overbay got Hayden Rooney to fly out to center to end the inning but the game was still tied 3-3.

Overbay really settled down after that while WF West turned to the bullpen with Wyatt Hoffman coming in to pitch the 6th. He recorded a strikeout before hitting Wyatt Chase to put a man on. A pickoff attempt got away from Dvorak at first which allowed Chase to move up. He really rolled the dice and tried to move to third and just swam around the tag at third to reach with one out. Liam Gustafson got the job done with a sacrifice fly to right to bring home Chase and cash in on the error to give Tumwater a 4-3 lead.

Luke Overbay retired the final eight batters he faced as he worked through the 6th and even helped Tumwater add on. A leadoff double by Peyton Davis started the 7th and a bunt by Max Bunn saw the Bearcats try to get Davis at third but they were unable to do so. Overbay sent a fly ball to right to bring home Davis with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3 T-Birds with just three outs to get.

Charlie Crawford was on to close it out for Tumwater but it was not easy. He would get Reece Marquez to pop out for the first out before hitting Wyatt Hoffman to put a man on. He bounced back by getting Hiroto Smaciarz to fly out to left for the second out, but then walked Alex Stafford to put the tying run on and bring the winning run to the plate. Things got more intense as he walked Connor Coleman to put the winning run on with the bases loaded and two outs. Gage Wiens then came to the plate and hit a hard grounder to third, but Max Bunn was there to glove it and then tagged third for the final out. A perfect escape by Charlie Crawford kept the T-Birds league title hopes alive as they took down WF West 5-3.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game went to Luke Overbay for Tumwater. The junior had some ups and downs on the mound in his six innings of work as he allowed three runs on six hits with four walks and six strikeouts, but finished strong as he retired his final eight batters. At the plate, Overbay was even better as he went 2-3 with two runs batted in and another run scored as the future Michigan Wolverine put together an all around strong day to keep the league title hopes alive for Tumwater.

Tumwater moves to 15-4 overall and 11-2 in Evergreen 2A play and keep their hopes alive for a league title. WF West sees their 17-game winning streak snapped as they fall to 17-2 and 12-1 in league play. The two teams will meet tomorrow at 4:30pm and if WF West wins that game then they win the EvCo 2A league title. If Tumwater wins, they will be tied in the standings with each having one league game left and Tumwater owning the tiebreaker.

Notable Performances

Tumwater

WF West

• Connor Coleman- 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1-2, 2B, R, BB, HBP, SB
• Wyatt Hoffman- 2-3, 2B, R, SB, HBP
• Alex Stafford- 0-2, RBI, R, 2 BB

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

ESN Postgame Show

Highlights

WF West Ties It

Tumwater Takes the Lead

T-Birds Escape Jam, Earn Win

elisportsnetwork.com