The first five-and-a-half innings in the championship game of the Washington State Junior ‘A’ American Legion Tournament on Aug. 3 were an old-fashioned pitchers duel between Oak Harbor’s Zach Hauser and Capital hurler Thomas DeBoer.
Hauser, the right-hander, and lefty DeBoer matched each other pitch for pitch until baseball fortune smiled on the Capital squad in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
A one-out double by Miles Kirchmeier followed by a bunt single by Joseph Tolman put Capital runners on first and third.
Hunter Sapp was intentionally walked to load the bases but Kellen Camus followed with a bases-clearing double and by the time the dust settled, Capital had built a 5-0 lead and went on to end Oak Harbor’s season with a 5-2 victory.
Oak Harbor had a number of chances early in the game to put runs on the board, but failed to put the bat on the ball in key situations.
“We left a lot of runners on base early in the game,†Wildcats manager Mark Naymik said.
Oak Harbor stranded six runners in the first four innings of the contest.
DeBoer kept Wildcat batters off balance changing speeds on his breaking pitches and occasionally mixing in a knuckle ball for good measure. He struck out five while walking just one, and was voted the tournament’s most valuable pitcher.
Strong defense prevented Capital from scoring early in the game as Oak Harbor turned a pair of double plays, including a nifty first to home and back to first with the bases loaded in the third.
Oak Harbor spoiled the shutout with some two-out magic in the top of the seventh inning on three clutch hits and a pair of Capital infield errors.
Chris Rankin opened the inning reaching first on an infield bobble, but was forced at second on Joseph Fleck’s infield out. Fleck went to second on a botched double play attempt and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
After Ben Wolfe fanned for the second out, three-straight singles by Alex Evans, Hauser and Josh Fiske put two Oak Harbor runs on the board bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of David Encinas.
However, Encinas rolled out to Capital first baseman Jack Haub to end the game and close Oak Harbor’s most successful season ever.
“This is the furthest an Oak Harbor team has ever advanced in a state tournament,†Naymik said.
Capital 5, Oak Harbor 2
Oak Harbor 000 000 2 — 2 8 1
Capital 000 050 x — 5 8 3
Zach Hauser, Bennett Richter (5) and David Encinas; Thomas DeBoer and Kohl Gygi. W — De Boer. L — Hauser. 2B — Hunter Sapp, Myles Kirchmeier, Kellen Camus (C). 3B — none. HR — none.
