W.F. West unable to catch needed breaks, upset by No. 12 Sehome

May 24-BOX SCORE

At Shadle Park HS

MARINERS 7, BEARCATS 6

Sehome005 001 1 - 7

W.F. West000 122 1 - 6

SEH Highlights - Neff 2-4, 2B, 2 R; Tweit 2-4, RBI, R, SB; Geiger 2-3, RBI, R, BB

WFW Highlights - Hoffman 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R; Coleman 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB, SB; Stafford 2-4, RBI, SB

In what Bearcats head coach Jesse Elam called "the story of their year" of not being able to come up with the clutch hit showed up again on Saturday, falling to No. 12 7-6 in a Class 2A Round of 16 contest.

It's now three straight seasons where W.F. West (21-5), which was the No. 5 seed but failed to make it to Bellingham.

After a 17-1 start, it finished 4-4 with a margin of victory no greater than five runs, but no margin of defeat less than two runs.

"The baseball Gods have not been on our side for most of it," Elam said. "We could have rolled over and quit and we didn't. We had some of the best innings we had all year. Just needed a couple of more hits and we'd still playing."

Down 5-0 after three complete innings, the Bearcats nearly pulled off a rally to keep their season alive. Connor Coleman notched an RBI single in the fourth, two more runs scored in the fifth and Wyatt Hoffman's two-run double in the sixth made it a one-run ballgame.

It could have been a tie game instead. Elam stated Hoffman's drive hit the top of the yellow padding in the outfield and stayed in. Trailing by two entering the seventh, Alex Stafford's drive to center was right at Sehome's centerfielder's glove.

Then Coleman launched a solo homer and Miles Martin singled then stole second as the tying run. The Mariners got the game-ending strikeout to preserve the upset.

"There's things you have to overcome and things out of our control," Elam said.

Sehome jumped in front with all five runs in the top of the third. The scoring started and ended with errors by W.F. West starter Emmett Goodman, who went three innings and struck out four. Eight of the nine hitters in the lineup recorded at least one hit.

Saturday marked the final game for seven Bearcat seniors. The core expected back in 2027 revolves around Goodman, Hayden Rooney, Hoffman and Hiroto Smaciarz amongst others.

"One of my goals for next year is to be more physical as a team, one-through-12," Elam said. "It starts in the weight room."

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