Strong Eighth Inning Propels Tacoma CC to Victory

TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma secured an 11-9 victory over Olympic on Thursday, overcoming a late rally by Olympic in the eighth inning. Tacoma's offense was highlighted by a four-run burst in the eighth inning, sealing the win in a league matchup.

Tacoma claimed a 4-2 lead in the second inning. Nate Jetton singled and stole home, followed by Tyson Rather scoring on Kaden Cretti's RBI single. Elijah McNair-Neal and Ty Iddon also reached base, with Iddon scoring an unearned run on Ethan Mar's sacrifice fly. The inning concluded with Tacoma leading 4-2.

Olympic edged closer in the fourth inning, scoring a run on a fielder's choice after Seamus Brown doubled and advanced on a walk and hit-by-pitch. The score was 4-3 in favor of Tacoma at the end of the fourth inning.

Tacoma extended its lead in the seventh inning. Ty Iddon singled and advanced to third on a ground out, before Vaughn Lowe delivered a three-RBI double, driving in Iddon, Braden Jones, and Carson Ackermann. Tacoma led 7-3 through seven innings.

In the eighth inning, Tyson Rather hit a solo home run, and Carson Ackermann cleared the bases with a three-RBI single, advancing to third on an error. This increased Tacoma's lead to 11-7 after the eighth inning.

Olympic scored two runs in the ninth inning on a double by Seamus Brown, but Tacoma maintained its lead. The final score was Tacoma 11, Olympic 9.

Jake Rafferty pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing six earned runs on six hits while striking out three and issuing two walks, using 101 pitches to navigate through the game. His performance was marked by a high number of hit batsmen, with five in total, which contributed to the earned runs. Jake Williams followed, facing difficulties as he pitched just 1/3 of an inning, giving up three earned runs with three walks and one hit. Reece Boekenoogen closed the game, pitching one inning with one walk and one hit, but managed to strike out three batters, ending with 17 strikes out of 30 pitches.

Tacoma Top Performers

Braden Jones
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- 2 runs
- 1 hit
- 1 RBI
- 2 walks

Carson Ackermann
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- 1 run
- 1 hit
- 3 RBIs
- 2 hit by pitches

Tyson Rather
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- 2 runs
- 2 hits
- 1 home run
- 1 stolen base

Reece Boekenoogen
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- 1 inning pitched
- 3 strikeouts
- 1 hit allowed