Oak Harbor eliminated from AA Legion tourney

The Anacortes Steamers have been a problem team for Oak Harbor all season long in American Legion Junior AA baseball, and last week’s Division I-District II tournament was no different.

Oak Harbor was unable to find the right combination, and lost three times to the Steamers during the regular season.

Both teams were undefeated in the tournament when they squared off Friday, July 17, at the Skagit Valley Dream Field in Mount Vernon and once again, Anacortes had the Wildcats’ number, pulling off a 6-3 victory.

Oak Harbor entered the game with a 9-0 win over Stanwood in the opening round and a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over Bellingham in Thursday’s second round.

Meanwhile, Anacortes slipped by Lake Stevens 6-5 in Wednesday’s opening round before pulling out a 4-2 win over Burlington.

The loss dropped the Wildcats into the loser’s bracket of the tournament where they were eliminated from competition by Burlington 5-3 on Saturday.

Burlington took a 5-1 lead before Oak Harbor mounted a rally, scoring two runs in the fifth inning. J.D. Wilcox had a double in the inning and Sam Wolfe contributed a single.

Burlington pitchers Michael Gallagher and Urban Morales combined to hold Oak Harbor to just four hits in the game.

Burlington, the number 5 seed in the tournament, came back on Sunday to defeat Anacortes twice, 6-5 and 12-1, to win the tournament championship and a trip to University High School in Spokane for the state tournament.

Anacortes will also be playing in the state tournament at Cheney High School.

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