Chance for Warriors' repeat thwarted

YAKIMA - They returned to the scene of history made in hopes of doubling down on a memory.

The Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors baseball team won its first ever title at Parker Field in 2010 and returned there Saturday in the hope of feeding their greed for a second straight championship crown.

However, St. John-Endicott had other ideas.

The underdog SJE squad scored early and often and then put the final nail in the coffin late as they rolled to a 10-3 win over ACH to deny the Warriors of a repeat.

ACH (22-2) led 2-0 after their first at bat before allowing 10 unanswered runs before scoring once more in the top of the seventh inning.

"Our overall goal for this year was to get back to the state final to defend our trophy and we did that," ACH head coach Stuart Gloyn said. "Unfortunately, we played one our worst games of the year and St. John-Endicott played very well and took advantage of our poor execution."

ACH pitcher Jacob Olmstead, who has been a rock on the mound all season,  found St. John-Endicott's lineup to be a tad bit more competitive than most.

"Jacob struggled on the mound and we couldn't get our bats going," Gloyn said. "That's a bad combination."

ACH was within striking range, trailing 5-2 going into the sixth inning, before SJE scored five times in the bottom half of the inning.

Brandon Boutain, Colin Deyarmin, Cash Caramandi and Olmstead each had one hit for ACH. Caramandi recorded two RBI.

"This loss doesn't define our team or our season," Gloyn said. "I am very proud of this team and what they accomplished this year. They have played all year with a sense of purpose and with passion and came up one game short.  This strong senior group has left a legacy of success and excellence and will be missed, but they have left behind a strong nucleus of returners."

ACH did capture the State Academic championship to go along with their league, district and regional titles this season.