MOUNT VERNON — The Cannons came out firing.
The Stanwood AA American Legion team scored six runs in the top of the first inning of its Division I District II championship game against Ferndale on Sunday, and made it stand up for a 10-6 victory.
Both teams had already clinched berths to the state tournament, which will begins Saturday in Selah.
Also winning Sunday were Sedro-Woolley and Burlington, which will square off at 6 p.m. today with the winner taking the third-and-final state berth.
The rain and the game started at about the same time, but nothing slowed down the Cannons bats. Six of the first eight hitters recorded hits, most of them solid line drives to the outfield.
Brandon Thomas, voted the tournament’s MVP after the game, opened the rally with a triple. Chad Murdock had a two-run single, and Dave Gerdes, Walter Thomas and Mike McCune also had RBI hits in the frame.
“We really came out swinging,” Stanwood coach Tony Wolden said. “After that, as the rain got harder, our bats kind of cooled off.
Ferndale scored five in the third to climb back in the game, but never tied the score. The Cannons tacked on runs in the fourth, sixth and two more in the seventh.
Stanwood pitcher Josh Orcutt went the distance for the win, allowing six hits.
“Josh threw well enough. He kept them swinging,” Wolden said. “Our defense wasn’t that good.”
Stanwood committed five official errors and a costly mental mistake that contributed to the five-run Ferndale rally.
Thomas finished with three hits, drove in one and scored two. Gerdes, Thomas, McCune and Murdock each had two hits
Burlington Sox 4
Meridian 2
Tyler McLeod drove in all four runs for Burlington, including a two-run homer in the seventh inning that provided what proved to be necessary insurance runs.
McLeod also had a two-run double in the third inning. His homer bumped the lead to 4-1. Ian Capron pitched a complete game for the Sox.
Sedro-Woolley 3
Anacortes Steamers 2
Jordan Wicker singled home Travis Serna in the bottom of the eighth inning to keep Sedro-Woolley’s state playoff hopes alive.
Anacortes had tied the game in the seventh when Cody Addison scored.
Serna went the distance on the mound, allowing seven hits and striking out four. Nick Engberg helped him out, throwing out a runner at the plate from left field in the second inning and nailing a runner at third in the fourth.
