Wildcats drop series finale' at St. Pius X

Julian Wright tripled and scored in the first inning but St. Pius X tied the game in the fourth and went ahead in the sixth inning to defeat the Wildcats Thursday, 2-1. The loss eliminated Woodland from the Class 5A state playoffs.

Woodland took St. Pius X to the limit in their state playoffs first round best-of-three series but the Wildcats came up just short in Thursday’s deciding game, 2-1.

Julian Wright tripled in the top of the first and scored Woodland’s only run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jakiyon Porter.

From there, Wildcats’ pitcher Ayden Ray kept his team in the game without any additional run support. Ray surrendered just two runs (one earned) on two hits and five walks. He struck out seven in six innings of work.

The Golden Lions tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. A three-base error and a sacrifice fly drove in the first St. Pius run.

The go-ahead and winning run for the Lions came in the bottom of the sixth inning. Two walks and an RBI single by Devin Portee drove in the deciding score.

Will Tippett (2 IP, 0R, 3H, 0BB, 1K) tossed a pair of scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh to earn the pitching victory for the Golden Lions. St. Pius starter Trevor Zimmerman worked the first five innings on the mound yielding one earned run on one hit and three walks. He fanned seven.

Devin Portee (2 RBIs) and Aiden Portee had the only two St. Pius hits.

Chase Carson, Wright (triple), Ray, and Jacob Gravett had one hit each for the Wildcats.

St. Pius X advances to the Class 5A Sweet Sixteen where the Golden Lions will host Wayne County. Their best-of-three series begins next Tuesday with a doubleheader.

Woodland’s season ends with a 15-18 record.