Cascade Baseball team competes well at Districts, but falls short

No one was expecting much from the Cascade Kodiak baseball team at the district playoffs. It was for good reason. Those teams, Chelan, Okanogan and Cashmere had all swept the Kodiaks during the regular season. 

Cashmere beat Okanogan 6-3 for the District Championship on May 6 at Cashmere. Cascade played Chelan in the consolation. Okanogan would play the winner of the Cascade-Chelan game for the second seed. 

Chelan had swept the Kodiaks in three games this season. Most were expecting to see the Goats move on. In the shock of the day, Cascade rode a great pitching performance from Conrad Hasse and some timely hitting to an impressive, 11-1 win in five innings. 

“It’s been a crazy season, like never before. The things the kids endured throughout the season, despite the record they had. They came out here and took it to a team that swept us during the season,” said Cascade Head Coach Mike Kelly. “In my opinion, never did that beat us. We lost because we made too many mistakes. Today, they just played and it was super fun.”

In the second game, the Kodiaks matched against an Okanogan team which had swept them three games in the regular season. Plus, the Bulldogs had their ace on the hill, Conrad Ashworth. 

Cascade jumped out to 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Ben Sunitsch led off with single, coming around score on an error. With Cascade ace Max Gilbert on the hill, the Bulldogs answered with three runs in the first to take a 3-1 lead, on three Kodiak errors and two singles. 

In the bottom of the second, Okanogan scored twice more to take a 5-1 lead, on two walks, a single and an error. It remained a 5-1 into the fifth. JJ Hall led off with a walk. Pitch hitter Wyatt Lambert singled. Wyatt Guthrie had a 2 RBI single to cut the lead to 5-3. 

Sunitsch struck out, then Dane Williams reached on a fielder’s choice. Then, Hasse came up with a big 2-run double to tie the game at 5-5. Dillon Samuel reached on error, but Mason Kelly popped up with two on. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Okanogan struck right back, scoring two runs on two hits and three errors. Gilbert was replaced on the mount by Dane Williams. 

Okanogan led 7-5. The Bulldogs scored again in the sixth on two walks and two errors. Cascade trailed 8-5 heading into the top of the seventh. 

Guthrie grounded out to third to open the inning. Williams and Hasse had back-to-back singles. William came around to score on error. Gilbert grounded out for the second out. Hasse scored on a Samuel RBI single. The Kodiaks cut the lead to 8-7 the tying run on base. Kelly grounded out to end the game. 

“In the second game, that is a young team. It’s an emotional roller coaster just trying to keep them going. In baseball, you’re never out of the fight. It was an important time for the young kids to recognize that,” Kelly said. “It was battle. It was really great. Conrad Hasse was great in the first game. Max was grinding in the second game. We just couldn’t make enough plays to keep him out there.”

Kelly felt good the Kodiaks were a single away from tying up that second game in the seventh. 

“I would have loved to extend this one more. We have some great seniors. These guys are a special group. All three of them (Gilbert, Williams, Guthrie.) They will be sorely missed,” Kelly said. “They had the best days of their careers maybe today. They saved it for a really good time.”

With a bunch solid young players, Kelly feels good about the future for Kodiak baseball. 

“With the young guys, we truly have a bright future. If we can stay together and keep working, this is a special group. I’m looking forward to this summer and the future,” Kelly said. 

Cascade finished the season 3-9 in league, 5-14 overall. 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.