Naselle advance to semis, Wahkiakum out in quarters

Wahkiakum baseball and Naselle softball have seen their seasons come to an end, with the Mules dropping in the state quarterfinals and Comets softball falling in the opening round. Meanwhile, the Comets' baseball team has continued to light it up, and they have just one game standing between them and the state final.

Naselle's quarterfinal was "bittersweet"

Naselle earned its spot in the baseball state semifinals with a big 25-4 win over Northport on Saturday, May 24. However, Northport entered the game with heavy hearts as tragedy struck the Northport community. The night before the game, one of Northport's players tragically drowned in the waters off Long Beach.

Naselle Head Coach Randy Lindstrom said the victory in the quarterfinal game was "bittersweet" but that Northport still wanted to play the game, and the Comets honored that wish. The game offered Northport's players a brief escape from the traumatic events of the night before.

"Please keep the families, team, and community of Northport in your thoughts and prayers," Lindstrom said.

While there are certainly things bigger than baseball, the game was still played.

The Comets played a high-octane game to advance to the state semifinals. Naselle powered their way to a 25-4 win with an impressive 15 hits. The Comets put up an impressive 11 runs in the second inning, and the Mustangs never quite managed to recover.

One of the highlights of the game was Jacob Lindstrom's homer, which was part of a fantastic day at the plate for him. In addition to the home run, he had another hit and notched five RBI. Trajen Ford and Jack Strange were also clicking in the batter's box, amassing three hits apiece. Ford also pitched all five innings for Naselle, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out nine batters.

The Comets will face off against Liberty Christian, the number one seed, in the state semifinals on May 30. The game will be played at Archer Field in Carlon Park in Selah. Naselle will hope to reach the finals after 2024 saw them fall to Almira-Coulee-Hartline in the semifinal round.

Wahkiakum wins thriller in opening round

The Mules proved to be a stubborn foe for the Quilcene Rangers in the opening round on May 21. Wahkiakum entered the matchup as the 11-seed, while Quilcene was seeded sixth. Despite being the underdog, the Mules provided plenty of kick.

It was a back-and-forth affair; after going up 1-0 in the top of the first, the Rangers grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third, 3-1. The Mules recovered the lead in the top of the fifth with three runs to go up 4-3. In the bottom of the inning, Quilcene scored two to go up 5-4. After scoring two in the sixth and holding Quilcene scoreless in the inning, Wahkiakum looked ready to see out the game, entering the seventh with a 6-5 lead. The Rangers refused to be beaten, scoring a crucial run to send it to extra innings.

In extras, the Mules again seemed to have the game in hand, scoring four runs to grab a commanding 10-6 lead in the top of the inning, but it was a wild finish to the game that saw the Mules surrender three runs and then get the final out with bases loaded. In the end, the Mules advanced to the quarterfinals with a 10-9 upset win under their belts.

Overall, the game was decided by the thinnest of margins. The Mules ended with eight hits to get their 10 runs, while the Rangers scored nine runs on five hits. As has been the case in some of Wahkiakum's games this season, the Mules had some costly errors that led to Rangers runs. Wahkiakum had eight errors in the game compared to Quilcene's four.

Unfortunately, in the quarterfinal against the Almira-Coulee-Hartline Warriors, the errors came back to bite the Mules. The final score was 7-3 in favor of the Warriors, but only three of Almira-Coulee-Hartline's scores were earned runs.

The Warriors played an efficient game, committing no errors and recording five hits. The Mules played well on offense, notching seven hits, but couldn't get all their runners back home and left many players on base. The defensive errors proved costly, as Wahkiakum's pitchers allowed only three earned runs, but the team committed six errors, according to statistics on MaxPreps.com.

Despite the tough loss, Wahkiakum's stars delivered some strong performances. Rusty Morrison again performed well, registering three RBI on his single hit. Cooper Carlson and Mathew Wills each collected two hits.

The Mules had a great season overall. The upset win against Quilcene in the opening round of the playoffs will live long in the memory of the 2025 Mules squad.

Naselle softball falls in opening round

The Comets softball squad wound up falling in the first round of the 2025 1B State Fastpitch Softball tournament. It was a tough battle with the Dayton Bulldogs, who put up 20 runs on the Comets, while Naselle scored 10.

Dayton hopped out to an early lead, going up 15-3 entering the third inning, but the Comets never quit. Despite a large deficit entering the fourth inning, trailing 19-4, Naselle refused to give up and scored six runs in the top of the fourth. The Comets put up eight hits, while Dayton put up 10 hits in the victory.

Despite the loss, Naselle's 12-4 regular season record proved successful. "Overall, Lily Harman and I are very happy with how the season went and we are so excited for the next season to start," said Coach Kendall Ford. "We are losing only one senior, Evelyn Normand, which is a huge loss on the mound, in the field, and batting. Plus she is just an amazing young lady all around. We have a few new 8th grade faces coming in next year, which will only add to a pretty stacked roster. Our off season summer plan is to work with our pitchers and catchers."