Rochester ended up on the right side of a shootout on Tuesday, taking down Rainier 12-10 in its final game of the regular season.
“We played well enough to win,” Rochester coach Brad Quarnstrom said. “We did what we needed to when we had to.”
The two teams traded runs throughout the first three and a half innings before Rochester scored five runs in the fourth to push a 4-3 lead into a 9-3 advantage.
In that frame, one run scored on a balk, one scored on a groundout, one came across on a sacrifice fly from Dane Akin, and two came across on a double down the right-field line from Easton Singleton.
“We were able to do some good things there,” Quarnstrom said, emphasizing how important it was that the leadoff batter reached base to start the frame. “It just opens up so many avenues … We got to work on some things we worked on in practice, which was nice.”
Rainier got back within one with a five-spot of their own a half-inning later, but Rochester re-extended its lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from Akin and a two-run single from Tyler Huston.
Akin finished with two hits and four RBIs in three trips to the plate, and Ethan Rodriguez ended the afternoon with three hits and an RBI.
Huston, Tayden Martin, and Singleton finished with two RBIs apiece.
Defensively, the Warriors struggled, committing five errors, which led to seven unearned runs.
“We threw the ball around a little bit,” Quarnstrom said.
Peyton Sheaffer drove in three runs, collected two hits, and scored twice to lead the Rainier offense, while Yazama Gurnsey added two hits and an RBI of his own. Four other Mountaineers picked up an RBI.
Rainier (9-10, 8-8 C2BL) will head to Tenino on Wednesday.
Rochester’s regular season is now in the rear view mirror. The Warriors will enter the district tournament as the Evergreen League’s No. 2 seed at 11-7 overall.
They’ll host a district quarterfinal on Monday against the Trico’s No. 3 seed, which is yet to be finalized.
“We played okay (Tuesday),” Quarnstrom said. “But we’ll have to play better (Monday) to advance.”
