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Photo: Roughrider Josiah Gooding talks about his game winning hit on the KONP post game show Saturday

By Oly Archibald

TACOMA — The Port Angeles Roughrider baseball team is heading to the state tournament, after a dramatic 9th-inning walk-off single by 2nd baseman Josiah Gooding that scored the winning run. The Roughriders beat Olympic 5-4, who is a lot better team than their 12-11 record shows, Saturday.

Olympic pitcher Blake Hennessy had the Roughriders number early with 6 strike outs in the first three innings. Down 2-0 in the 3rd with two outs, Roughrider shortstop Alex Angevine walked and 3rd baseman Colton Romero, who has been clutch all season, singled. With runners at 1st and 2nd, Elijah Flodstrom hit a dribbler in front of the plate. The Olympic catcher picked up the ball and threw it beyond his first baseman, allowing Angevine to score from 2nd to make the score 2-1.

With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the 9th, Roughrider 2nd baseman Kole Acker singled and then Roughrider centerfielder Kaleb Mullen walked. With one out, Josiah Gooding had the hit of his life with a solid ground ball through the gap between the shortstop and 3rd baseman allowing in the winning run.

All the Roughriders were heroes, but the biggest was Gooding who, along with the walk off winning hit, also singled and scored in the 4th inning. Angevine had two singles, a walk and a run scored. Leftfielder Elijah Flodstrom was outstanding, getting on base four times with three hits and a run scored. Right fielder Tanner Jacobson got on base three times and scored the tying run in the bottom of the 8th inning to keep the Roughriders alive. Acker, who started the game as the pitcher, had 5 strike outs in his 3 innings pitched and had 2 big hits including the leadoff single in the bottom of the 9th inning that eventually became the winning run. 3rd baseman Colton Romero had 2 hits and another solid day defensively. Sophomore pitcher Blake Sohlberg gave the Roughriders solid relief in the middle innings.

The Roughriders now head to Chehalis Saturday morning for a 10 am first pitch against the two-time state champion and 3rd-ranked WF West Bearcats to start state tournament play. The Bearcats are 18-5 on the season. You can hear that game live right here on Newsradio KONP.

In girls fast pitch action, Roughrider senior pitcher Cheyenne Zimmer was not going to lose to the Sequim Wolves for the 2nd time of the season at home on her “Senior Night”. Zimmer dominated the Wolf pack for an 8-1 Roughrider win. Zimmer struck out 10 batters in 6 innings of work. Abby Kimball, once again having a great season, went 2 for 4 with a 2-run home run and she had 3 RBIs. The freshman 2nd baseman Kennedy Rognlien did it again at the plate going 2 for 3 with 2 singles and 2 RBIs.

Zimmer, who did not get the start at home against #1 ranked North Kitsap earlier last week, was brought in the top of the 5th with the Roughriders down 6-1 in that game. Zimmer got the Roughriders back in the game striking out her first three batters including 7 strike outs against the 11 batters she faced for the game.

North Kitsap goes unbeaten in league play with a 14-0 record. Olympic and Port Angeles end up in a 2nd place tie with 10-4 records. Sequim ends up 4th with a 9-5 record, Kingston is 5th with a 7-7 record.

The district draw is tonight. Look for Port Angeles to get a top 8 seed which would put them in a winning bracket game probably at Noon on Friday. Sequim will most likely get a 9-10 seed which would put them in a losers bracket game at 10 am Friday. Sequim would be a huge favorite in that game and should be a favorite in their 2nd game.

The district is in Lacey. The semifinals are Saturday night at 5 pm and the championship game is at 7 pm. 5 teams will qualify for the state tournament. It should be a competitive district tournament.

In Junior Babe Ruth action, Athletes Choice is 7-0 and has a big game tonight against Local 155. Andre Campbell has been a dominating pitcher on the mound for Athletes Choice