Category Archives: Olympia Athletics
Monday scoreboard: A’s crowned PSCL champs
Photo credit: Matt Acker
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball championship
Olympia Athletics 5, Hawks Prairie Cardinals 3
Olympia Athletics 14, Hawks Prairie Cardinals 2
Needing two wins to take the PSCL title, the Olympia Athletics scored five runs in the second inning of game one and held on to to beat the Hawks Prairie Cardinals 5-3 to force a game two.
The A’s got on the board first when Brian Clayton (Green River CC) singled to drive in Drew Fosnes (Green River CC) who doubled to lead off the second inning. Bret Bitow (Saint Martin’s) singled in a run and Clayton scored on an error before Dane Cheatly’s (Centralia College) triple cleared the bases and ran the score to 5-0.
The Cardinals slowly chipped away at the lead. Jake Robinett’s (Everett CC) solo home run in the second and Kohei Yamaguchi (Riseisha-Osaka) added another solo shot in the fourth to cut the A’s lead to three. Chris McElderry (Oklahoma Wesleyan, Yelm HS) led off the eighth with a triple and Andy Scott drove him in to make it 5-3 but Sean Murphy (Murray State College) got the final six outs in relief to force a winner-take-all game two.
Fosnes and Clayton each went 3-for-4 in the game and Clayton got the win giving up five hits over seven innings. Scott kept the Cardinals in the game by pitching 7 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Kyle Diaz (Clackamas CC), who was saddled with the loss.
In game two, the A’s took advantage of the thinned Cardinals pitching staff and scored four runs in the third inning, seven in the fourth and three more in the sixth and won the game and the championship 14-2 in seven innings. Tournament MVP Bitow went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI. Cheatly and Murphy each also scored three times and drove in two runs. Fosnes, Brandon Christianson (Yakima Valley CC) and Clayton all also had two RBI.
Ryan Olson (Pierce CC) gave up one run on three hits and struck out three Cardinals over 5 1/3 innings to get the win for the A’s. With the pitching staff nearly maxed out because of pitch count rules, Thomas Coyne (Shoreline CC), Mike McCormack (Shoreline CC) and Bitow kept the lead to more than ten runs over the final 1 2/3 innings to force the mercy rule that ended the Cardinals season and set off the A’s celebration.
For a photo gallery of today’s games, click here.
Today (7/30): A’s, Cardinals play for PSCL Championship
The Puget Sound Collegiate League season comes to an end tonight when the #1 seed Olympia Athletics take on the #4 seed Hawks Prairie Cardinals in the PSCL championship game at the RAC. In the double-elimination tournament, the Cardinals are undefeated and need to win one game to take home the title whereas the A’s will have to win two games tonight for the championship. The A’s were taken down by the Cardinals on Saturday to drop into elimination portion of the tournament but have won three straight games to make the final.
Despite the loss to the Cardinals in the second round of the playoffs, the A’s come into the game as the hottest team in the league having gone 13-4 in July including a three game sweep of the Lacey Saints in the final regular season series to take the #1 seed away from the Saints. The A’s had a bye in the first round on Friday and lost to the Cards in their opener on Saturday but rallied to eliminate the Saints 4-1 on Saturday night and eliminated both the Tumwater Brewers and West Olympia Linx yesterday.
The Cardinals were only two games off the pace set by the A’s in July going 11-6 including a four game winning streak coming into the championship game. In the playoffs, the Cardinals knocked off the Brewers 4-0 on Friday, the A’s on Saturday and the Linx 6-2 on Sunday en route to today’s final.
The two teams met six times in the regular season with the A’s winning four times.
First pitch in the championship game tonight is at 5:00 PM. If the A’s win game one, game two will start at 7:30.
Sunday scoreboard: Cards, A’s advance to championship game
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball playoffs
(#1) Olympia Athletics 4, (#5) Tumwater Brewers 3
(#4) Hawks Prairie Cardinals 6, (#3) West Olympia Linx 2
(#1) Olympia Athletics 6, (#3) West Olympia Linx 5
With their season on the line, the Tumwater Brewers struck first in game one of the third round of the PSCL playoffs. Kyle Holtman (St. Claire County CC) drove in one run in the first and another in the third and the Brewers took a 3-0 lead over the Olympia Athletics. But the A’s scored four unanswered runs and held on, 4-3, to extend their season and end the Brewers’ year. Drew Fosnes (Green River CC) drove in two of the A’s four runs including the eventual game winner in the eighth inning. Sean Murphy (Murray State College) and Nikko Saenz (St. Mary’s) scored all of the A’s four runs. Holtman went 5-for-5 with three doubles and two RBI for the Brewers in the loss. With the win, the A’s moved on to another elimination game later on Sunday night.
In game two, the Hawks Prairie Cardinals remained undefeated in the playoffs and advanced to the championship game on Monday night with a 6-2 win over the West Olympia Linx. The Cards pounded out 13 hits and Justin King and Eli Fulton (Clark College, Capital HS) combined to give up just five hits and two earned runs. The loss dropped the Linx into an elimination game with the A’s in the next game.
And in the winner to championship/loser out nightcap, the A’s scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead just a half inning after the Linx broke a 3-3 tie in with two runs in the top of the sixth. Murphy and Bret Bitow (Saint Martin’s) allowed just two hits over the next three innings and the A’s held on to move into the championship game on Monday. Bitow got the save and went 3-for-5 with three runs scored while Saenz and Bret Grey (Central Washington) each collected two hits. Mac Gridley (Lower Columbia CC) went 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Linx in their last game of the season.
Today (7/29): PSCL playoffs continue
The Puget Sound Collegiate league playoffs are into their third day at the RAC and two more teams will be eliminated leading to the championship game on Monday.
Game one pits the #5 seed Tumwater Brewers against the #1 seed Olympia Athletics in an elimination game. The Brewers lost to the Hawks Prairie Cardinals on Friday to drop into the losers bracket and then eliminated the Nisqually Silvers yesterday. Meanwhile, the A’s had a first round bye, lost an epic 17 inning affair on Saturday to the West Olympia Linx but rallied in an elimination game and knocked out the A’s last night. First pitch is at 1:00 PM.
Game two is a winners bracket game between the #4 seed Hawks Prairie Cardinals and the #3 seed West Olympia Linx. The Cards beat the Brewers and A’s while the Linx beat the Silvers on Friday and the A’s in 17 innings on Saturday. The winner moves on to the championship on Monday while the loser faces an elimination game immediately following this game. First pitch is at 4:00 PM.
The 7:00 game pits the winner of game one against the loser of game two with a trip to the championship game on the line.
Saturday scoreboard: PSCL playoffs – #2 seed Saints, #6 seed Silvers eliminated
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball playoffs
(#3) West Olympia Linx 3, (#2) Lacey Saints 2 – 17 innings
(#4) Hawks Prairie Cardinals 6, (#1) Olympia Athletics 5
(#5) Tumwater Brewers 6, (#6) Nisqually Silvers 3
(#1) Olympia Athletics 4, (#2) Lacey Saints 3
The second round of the Puget Sound Collegiate League playoffs kicked off at 11:00 AM with an epic 17 inning game, the longest in league history, between the #3 seed West Olympia Linx and the #2 seed Lacey Saints. The Saints got on the the board first when Devin Ferguson drove in a run in the bottom of the first. Mac Gridley drove in a run in the top of the second to even the game up for the Linx and both teams added a run in the sixth inning. After the sixth, the two teams combined for just eight hits and advanced a runner past first base only six times over the next eleven innings before a Skyler Wheeler single drove in Daniel Armstrong for the game winning run in the top of the 17th inning. Justin Dibble started the game for the Linx and gave up two runs in six innings. Micah Donor relieved him in the seventh and gave up two hits over the next eight innings. Seth Gregorich pitched a scoreless 15th. Kyle Leady pitched the 16th and closed out the game in the 17th to pick up the win. With the win, the Linx moved on to Sunday while the Saints dropped into an elimination game on Saturday evening.
In game two, the #4 seed Hawks Prairie Cardinals opened up a six run lead through five innings thanks to a Conor Cook two run double in the first inning and a Daniel Flahie RBI single in the fifth. But the Olympia Athletics rallied in the seventh. Bret Bitow singled to drive in a run and load the bases and then Sean Murphy hit a grand slam to cut the Cardinals lead to just one, 6-5. But Eli Fulton got the last out in the seventh and the A’s managed just one hit over the next two innings and the Cardinals upset the #1 seed A’s, 6-5. Sam Shadle pitched 7 1/3 innings and gave up just one hit while striking out eleven A’s to get the win. The Cardinals moved into the third round on Sunday and the A’s fell into the elimination game against the Lacey Saints.
In the first elimination game, Chris Hackworth gave up two earned runs over 7 1/3 innings to lead the #5 seed Tumwater Brewers past the #6 seed Nisqually Silvers, 6-3. Blake Woosley went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Bobby Twedt, Kyle Doucette and Cole Pittman each added two hits for the Brewers. Spencer Dodd and Ryan Taylor each drove in a run for the Silvers in their last game of the season.
In the nightcap, the Olympia A’s got a masterful pitching performance from their ace, Ryan Smith, and cruised to a 4-1 victory, eliminating the #2 seed Lacey Saints from the PSCL playoffs. Bret Bitow drove in a run in the third inning with a suicide squeeze. Nikko Saenz followed Bitow and drove in the eventual game winning run. Bitow relieved Smith in the eighth inning to pick up the save. The A’s face the Brewers in another elimination game tomorrow afternoon.
Today (7/28): PSCL playoffs, MIA Derby Girls, Racing
The Puget Sound Collegiate League playoffs continue today with the top two seeds kicking off their playoff run in the morning and early afternoon and continuing later with two elimination games.
Game one pits the #3 seed West Olympia Linx against the #2 seed Lacey Saints. The Saints were solidly on top of the PSCL standings but were swept by the Olympia Athletics in the last week of play and were just 2-6 over their last eight games. On the other hand, the Linx went 5-3 over their last eight games including a 1-0 11th inning win over the Nisqually Silvers last night. The Saints and Linx met six times this season with the Saints taking the season series 4-2. First pitch at the RAC is at 11:00 AM.
The #1 seed Olympia Athletics get their playoff run underway at 2:00 PM at the RAC against the Hawks Prairie Cardinals. The A’s and Cardinals have met six times this season with the A’s taking four games with one of the Cardinals wins came from an 8-8 tie where the win was awarded to the Cards based on tiebreaker rules. The A’s come into the playoffs red hot winning nine of the last ten games.
The first elimination game gets underway at the RAC at 5:00 and pits the tough luck first round loser Nisqually Silvers against the Tumwater Brewers. The two teams just wrapped up the “Mohawk Series” with the Silvers taking two of three from the Brewers and resulting in a new hairdo for Brewers head coach Abe Lupkin.
And finally, the day wraps up with the second elimination game at 7:45 between the loser of the Linx/Saints game and the loser of the A’s/Cardinals game.
Also on the docket today, the MIA Derby Girls host their third bout in their short existence. They will take on The Vodun at South Sound Sports Center in Tumwater at 6:00 PM. Tickets are $15 at the door.
Last, but not least, the racing season continues at South Sound Speedway with legends, street stocks, bump to pass, outlaw compacts and baby grands. Tickets are $14 for adults with qualifying beginning at 5:00 PM and racing starting at 6:30.
Wednesday scoreboard: Cards stop Linx, Brewers skipper gets a shave, A’s sweep Saints
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Hawks Prairie Cardinals 5, West Olympia Linx 4
Nisqually Silvers 5, Tumwater Brewers 2
Olympia Athletics 12, Lacey Saints 8
Final regular season standings & playoff seeds:
1. Olympia Athletics
2. Lacey Saints
3. West Olympia Linx
4. Hawks Prairie Cardinals
5. Tumwater Brewers
6. Nisqually Silvers
The PSCL playoffs begin on Friday with the Brewers facing the Cardinals at 5:00 PM and the Silvers taking on the Linx at 7:45.
Today (7/25): Last day of the PSCL regular season
Today marks the end of the Puget Sound Collegiate League’s regular season and features all six teams in action at Saint Martin’s and the RAC.
Game one at the RAC features the first place Olympia Athletics, who clinched a first round bye in the playoffs last night, and the Lacey Saints, who need a win to win to get the first round bye. The A’s have had the Saints number this season taking three games out of four. First pitch is at 5:00 PM.
Over at Saint Martin’s, the Tumwater Brewers and Nisqually Silvers continue their series tonight with a full head of hair on the line. Either the Silvers’ head coach Paul Gehring or the Brewers’ skipper Abe Lupkin will get a Mohawk haircut shaved into their head by the other with a loss. First pitch in the Mohawk series finale is at 5:00.
The West Olympia Linx could take home a first round bye with a little help. They need the A’s to knock off the Saints in the first game and then finish off the Hawks Prairie Cardinals in the nightcap. Game time is scheduled for 7:30.
Following tonight’s games, the PSCL takes a couple days off before the playoffs get started on Friday night and run all weekend until the final on Monday at the RAC.
Tuesday scoreboard: A’s take first, Linx tied for second, Brewers even up
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Olympia Athletics 10, Lacey Saints 6
West Olympia Linx 12, Hawks Prairie Cardinals 4
Tumwater Brewers 5, Nisqually Silvers 0
Today (7/24): PSCL final series continues
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Hawks Prairie Cardinals @ West Olympia Linx – Saint Martin’s – 5:00 PM
Olympia Athletics @ Lacey Saints – The RAC – 5:00 PM
Tumwater Brewers @ Nisqually Silvers – The RAC – 7:30 PM
Oly Sports 