Yelm baseball walks off Rogers, sweeps Graham-Kapowsin to start SPSL season undefeated

In a bizarre week of baseball that included a cancellation during the nicest afternoon of the week last Wednesday, a rainout after two innings last Friday, a Saturday double-header and the conclusion of the rainout game on Monday, Yelm High School’s baseball team started its inaugural South Puget Sound League season off with a 3-0 record.

In Yelm’s most recent action, the Tornados defeated the Rogers Rams 5-4 on Monday, March 31, in a continuation of the matchup that originally began on Friday, March 28. The Rams initially took a 2-0 lead over the Tornados last week, but the matchup was called off by umpires due to an ongoing rain storm. Ironically, the rain cleared up by time the Tornados left the dugouts.

Junior Landan Halterman was the starting pitcher for the Tornados on Friday at home, and he resumed action for Yelm on Monday on the road at Heritage Recreation Center in Puyallup. In the rainstorm last week, the Tornados pitcher struggled early on to find the strike zone, but he was a completely different pitcher when the action resumed on Monday. He allowed just three earned runs after 5.2 innings pitched, and only one run was earned after action resumed.

“He pitched really well and threw lots of strikes. He made them earn it,” head coach Dakota Hill said on Monday, March 31. “We played really good defense behind Landan, too, but there were some very preventable mistakes we made and we’ll work on those in practice.”

The win for the Tornados wouldn’t come easy, as Yelm trailed Rogers 4-2 entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Hill said the team was able to string together a bunch of quality at-bats, drawing several walks. Eventually, junior outfielder Lincoln Ramirez walked it off for Yelm, literally, by drawing a walk to push Yelm ahead 5-4.

“We have a lot of confidence right now. The energy is so positive and contagious. It’s fantastic. Our dugout culture has been phenomenal. We’re picking up guys in between innings,” Hill said. “We know it isn’t one guy that has to go out and do all the work. It’s been a different person each game that’s come up big for us, which is beautiful. That’s been built in the weight room just because you see a guy working, you trust him and you also have a little more confidence in yourself because you know you put in that work.”

On Saturday, March 29, the Tornados played the Graham-Kapowsin Eagles twice at home and earned victories of 3-2 and 2-1. Hill drew comparisons in his Tornados’ first victory over the Eagles to Monday’s victory over the Rams as the team earned a win yet again in walk-off fashion. The Tornados trailed 3-2 entering the bottom of the seventh inning when senior Barrett Schnetz called game and hit a walk-off two-run double to earn a victory of the doubleheader against G-K.

“In game two, we had an excellent start from freshman Logan Caudil. He went six innings, one earned run,” Hill said. “It was a really impressive outing from the freshman.”

Though the freshman Caudil dealt in his start against G-K, Hill pointed to junior outfielder Wesley Thompson’s inside-the-park homerun as the biggest play of the game for Yelm.

“Their right fielder dove and missed it, and knowing our ballpark, that ball was just going to roll. Wes flew around those bases, and now he leads the team in home runs — our smallest guy,” Hill said.

The Tornados played Olympia High School on Tuesday, April 1, and Wednesday, April 2, after the Nisqually Valley News print deadline.

Up next for Yelm, the team will travel to Emerald Ridge High School on Friday, April 4, for an SPSL matchup with the Jaguars. Then, on Tuesday, April 9, and Wednesday, April 10, the Tornados will host the Bethel Bison in a two-game SPSL South Division series.