As Charlie Crawford pulled into third base, he knew he put himself in a great position to score the game’s winning run. The senior had just drilled a triple to right field, and with just one out in the bottom of the seventh, he knew that his teammates would have a chance to drive him in.
What he didn’t expect was how simple it would be for him to advance home.
As he reached third, the throw deflected off the Columbia River third baseman’s glove and into the third-base dugout, allowing Crawford to advance home.
He jogged home to score the walk-off winner in Tumwater’s 1-0 victory over the Rapids, sealing the Thunderbirds’ second straight 2A District 4 championship.
“It’s not how you draw it up,” Tumwater coach Lyle Overbay said with a laugh. “But it usually doesn’t end up that way … It made it easy.”
Crawford’s line drive to right field was Tumwater’s first extra-base hit of the game, as the T-Birds struggled to get to Columbia River starter Ryan Chatham. Overbay said that Chatham was consistently attacking the upper third of the strike zone, generating several weak pop ups and fly balls.
“We were trying to get these guys to make those adjustments,” Overbays said. “I had been telling them since the third. That’s where they just gotta hone in a little bit of the emotions. The stage is just gonna get bigger, so they’re gonna have to figure out how to navigate that and do the things we’ve done to be successful.”
While the Tumwater offense struggled, Braeden Konrad kept the Columbia River equally in check.
The righty issued two walks and threw 23 pitches in the first inning, but he settled in, allowing four hits in a complete-game shutout.
“He got out of it and settled down and started pounding the zone,” Overbay said. “Towards the end of the game, his velo was still up, he still had good pop, and he didn’t lose the strike zone.”
His biggest sequence came in the top of the sixth, when a Rapid ripped a leadoff double and reached third with just one out after a ground out. Konrad struck out the next batter looking, though, and he got another ground ball three pitches into the next at-bat to escape the jam.
“That was big,” Overbay said. “They definitely had the momentum, and he got it right back for us.
At 20-4 and with a league and district title under their belts, Tumwater has the case to be a top-four seed in the state tournament, which would allow them to “host” a Regional next Saturday at Wheeler Field in Centralia.
“I think we’ve earned that,” Overbay said.
The Thunderbirds will find out if they’ll stay home or hit the road on Sunday, when the WIAA releases the state tournament brackets.
