Prep Baseball: Pitching, Sharp Defense Spurs Adna Past Rainier

Mar. 24—BOX SCORE

At Rainier HS

PIRATES 5, MOUNTAINEERS 1

Adna022 100 0 — 5

Rainier000 010 0 — 1

ADNA Pitching — Cameron Nakano 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO; Jack Pennington 1.2 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO; Elijah Silva 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO. Highlights — Preston Trodahl 2-4; Treven Willis 1-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB, 2 SB; Barron Luond 1-2, 2B, R, BB, SB

RAIN Pitching — Peyton Sheaffer 3 IP, 3 H, 4 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 3 SO; Yazama Gurnsey 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 4 BB, 5 SO. Highlights — Gurnsey 1-3, R, BB; Blake Fennel 0-2, RBI, 2 BB; Kaymen Larman 1-2, BB

RAINIER — As Jake Overbay surveyed his Adna High School baseball team, he came to the same conclusion a lot of area coaches have felt about their respective SW Washington programs.

Whomever the Pirates trot out on the mound, they feel one step ahead of their opponent.

"We're gonna have to rely on our pitching more," Overbay said. "It is gonna have to be our backbone."

With a 1-2 lefty combo of Cameron Nakano and Jack Pennington that Adna unleashed on Monday afternoon, it took care of business with a 5-1 victory over Rainier in a C2BL contest on the diamonds behind Rainier Elementary School.

Now at 3-0 overall and in the league, the Pirates still feel the lingering taste of losing in the Class 2B District 4 championship game to Ilwaco plus falling in the quarterfinals to Asotin last spring.

Even with an impactful senior class gone, the bevy of returners remain motivated.

"There is a demand and a need and a higher standard," Overbay said. "It is a matter of time before everyone gels. They are always hungry."

Nakano and Pennington pitched a bulk of innings a year ago and were all-league second team and honorable mention picks, respectively. The pair of southpaws worked around six combined walks to strike out 10 total Mountaineers.

Nursing a 2-0 cushion in the bottom of the second, Nakano thought he danced out of a two on, two out jam. On Cameron Tongedahl's check swing, the umpires met and confirmed he didn't go around.

In a stoic demeanor, Nakano struck out Kaden Goodman on six pitches to leave the bases loaded. He didn't even crack a smile on his walk to the dugout.

"In these early games, it is the best experience they can go through," Overbay said. "For a guy to believe in his team, it is crucial."

In the fifth, Rainier (2-2, 2-2) had another chance to break through on an error and two straight walks. Adna catcher Preston Trodahl halted momentum for a bit with a bullet to third base to pick off Goodman.

The Mountaineers still were able to chase Pennington out of the game after an RBI walk, then Elijah Silva recorded a first pitch groundout to end the rally and leave the tying run at the plate. Rainier left nine runners on base for the game.

Little things ended up dooming the Mountaineers.

"We did have our chances, we just didn't get those timely hits," their head coach Justin Gurnsey said. "We knew this was our measuring stick. We held in there, so it is a lot more to build on than be disappointed about."

Overbay called both Nakano's 'K' and Trodahl's seed to third "momentum" plays.

"Momentum is everything," he added.

Adna scored all five of its runs over the second, third and fourth innings. Treven Willis roped an RBI double to open the scoring and then crossed home on an error. Aidan Percival's sacrifice fly and Silva scored on another Rainier error.

Barron Luond pulled a one-out double in the fourth and scored on a passed ball seven pitches later. Trodahl and Brody Richards each had two hits for the Pirates while Willis and Jackson Bright nabbed two stolen bases.

"It was good for the boys to make key adjustments with their approach," Overbay said. "I'm trying to get high school kids to understand we don't hit home runs intentionally, we hit them accidentally. We got to play small ball and they handled that in the middle of the game."

"You got to keep the ball in front of you and make the play," Gurnsey stated about the four errors. "If we could fix those errors, I'm pretty confident that we're going to be hanging in every game."

The Mountaineers were limited to three hits and couldn't take advantage of seven walks. Blake Fennel had their lone RBI and only one of their runs given up were earned. Peyton Sheaffer and Yazama Gurnsey totaled eight strikeouts between the two arms.

Rainier and Adna will play the second game of the C2BL season on Wednesday in Adna.