The Yelm Tornados baseball team concluded its 2022-2023 season with three consecutive victories, including their most recent series sweep of the River Ridge Hawks.
Yelm celebrated senior night May 2 by defeating River Ridge 2-1 followed by an 11-5 win on May 3.
The three-game win streak dates back to Saturday, April 29, after the team defeated Kingston High School 11-3 at Cheney Stadium, home of the Tacoma Rainiers.
On senior night, six Yelm seniors were honored prior to the contest, including catcher Drew Larson, first baseman Kolby Henry, outfielder Tanner Tompkins, pitcher Alex Zamora and second baseman Jakob Meyer.
Head Coach Zach Miller described the finish to the season as a good way to cap off a “tough” few years for the team.
“We talked about as a group that these last three games show what we can do if we compete for a full game on both sides, throw strikes, make the routine plays, and stick to our approach at the plate,” Miller told the Nisqually Valley News. “(Those) will let us be successful, but we have to work at it.”
The Tornados concluded the season with a record of 6-13-1 overall and 2-12 in league. It is a one-win improvement from the 2021-2022 season.
Sophomore Wyatt Robison was the starting pitcher in the first matchup of the week against River Ridge. He started off the game with a strikeout, before loading the bases hitting two batters and walking another. River Ridge scored on a fielder's choice to make it an early 1-0 score. Robison collected the final out of the inning with a strikeout.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Tornados got their first hit of the game from freshman shortstop Parker Myers. He singled, batting from the two-hole in Yelm’s lineup.
Robison, who batted third for the Tornados, drove in an RBI when he smashed a ground rule double. The game was tied 1-1 at the end of the first inning.
Robison was able to gather himself on the mound during the second inning, as he struck out two batters during the frame.
The score remained 1-1 into the bottom of the ninth inning. The freshman Myers started the inning for the Tornados by walking and later stealing second. Henry and Barrett Schnetz also walked in the inning to load the bases.
Larson hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Myers and win the game 2-1.
“(Our) opponent doesn't matter. It is how we execute and handle adverse times to be able to bounce back and next play, next pitch mentality,” Miller said. “The last three games weren't perfect by any means but they stayed with the process and got the results they were seeking.”
Yelm’s final matchup of the season on May 3 was a much different game than the May 2 senior night matchup.
The Tornados defeated the Hawks in an 11-5 offensive outburst by Yelm. Myers led the Tornados at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two doubles, three RBIs and a walk.
Schaler went 2-for-4 at the plate and collected two RBIs, while freshman Lincoln Ramirez went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Barrett Schnetz was huge on the mound for the Tornados as he pitched four innings and allowed just five hits. He collected six strikeouts and allowed just one run.
“The next step is to improve on this year's league win totals, and to do that we need to have a better start in our league play which we will be ready for,” Miller said. “Learning how to win games is important but (so is) learning how to compete and stay hooked up for a complete seven innings. Hopefully we've learned that lesson at the end of this spring and will help going into next (season).”
