Trojans take 2nd place at NWAC baseball tournament

Published 1:30 am Monday, May 29, 2017

LONGVIEW — For the second straight season, the Everett Community College baseball team fell just short of winning its first Northwest Athletic Conference baseball championship since 2013.

The Trojans, who had lost to Lower Columbia College earlier in the double-elimination NWAC Championship Tournament, got another shot at the Red Devils on Monday but needed two straight victories to claim the title. EvCC posted a 6-3 win to force a winner-take-all contest, which Lower Columbia won 5-1.

After falling behind 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning of the first game, the Trojans rallied for four runs over the next two innings behind a two-run home run from Peyton Cordova-Smith in the fourth inning and a two-run single by Mountlake Terrace graduate Jaden Yackely in the fifth frame.

That was all the offense EvCC starting pitcher Curtis Bafus would need as he settled down after a rough third inning and struck out seven over seven strong innings.

In game two, the Trojans found themselves in an early 2-0 hole again — this time in the top of the first inning.

The Red Devils didn’t record a hit in the first but took advantage of two walks and an error to take the lead.

After loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the first inning, the Trojans looked poised for another quick comeback, but back-to-back ground balls to third base allowed Lower Columbia to escape the inning unharmed.

Fielding issues continued to plague the Trojans throughout the game as they committed three errors in the fourth frame to help the Red Devils push across three more runs.

EvCC was able to get one run back in the sixth inning thanks to a run-scoring single from Marysville Pilchuck graduate Nic Anderson, but the Trojans offense only mustered two more hits.

The win earned Lower Columbia its 12th NWAC championship in program history.

The Trojans lost to Yakima Valley in last season’s tournament championship game.