Sequim Gazette staff

The Olympic Crosscutters, consisting of Sequim, Port Angeles and Jefferson County players, finished their first season a few strokes off the bat from a state berth.

They hosted the American Legion AA District 2 Regional Tournament at Port Angeles’ Civic Field on July 17-19 but were eliminated after two close losses.

The Crosscutters opened the tournament with a 4-3 loss to Lower Columbia Silver on Friday night followed by another tight game on Saturday, losing 5-3 to the Olympic Tigers of Bremerton.

Nigel Christian helped keep the peninsula-wide team close in the first game, stealing three bases, including two in the first inning, plus earning a run on an overthrow in the first inning against the Longview-Kelso team.

In the fourth inning, Christian made it to second base on an overthrow, third base on a pop-up by Lane Dotson and home on a fielding error following a Dan Harker hit.

Down 2-0 and with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, team Silver went up 3-2 following an Alex Bacon two-run single and later a fielding error leading to a run.

Christian tied the game with another run following a Logan Shaw RBI.

Lower Columbia went on to win in the bottom of the sixth with two outs following an RBI single by Bacon to bring in Yancy Bird. Christian also pitched the game for the Crosscutters, striking out five and only giving up one walk.

In game two, the Crosscutters recorded their three runs in the third inning with a two-run RBI single by Christian and a free-pass to home on an error.

However, the Tigers went up in the fourth 4-3 following two singles and an error leading the hitters home. Another error led to the 5-3 finish. Dotson pitched four innings and struck out two Tigers while A.J. Prater recorded two hits for the Crosscutters. The American Legion State tournament in Lacey runs July 24-30.

John Qualls, Darrin Dotson and Buck Gieseke coached the Crosscutters this year for boys ages 14-19.

For more on the team, visit www.olympiccrosscutters.com.