This weekend I originally planned to cover Grays Harbor vs Pierce but with the poor weather outlook those games were postponed and my family decided to do a little weekend away. I had every intention of taking the weekend off from covering baseball. Sunday morning rolled around and my family was ready to head home and my wife asked if there was any baseball for me to cover, and here we are.
I mentioned in the LCC vs Grays Harbor review that the West Region is getting deeper and seeing Centralia play only confirmed that even more. Centralia has taken the past two years to really try and build some excitement in their program and to start building their talent level. My simple thoughts on that is they are moving in the right direction.
Centralia isn’t there yet, but this Sunday’s doubleheader showed me that players are on board. Just a few years ago I covered a Centralia double header where half the team was more interested in posing for the camera than paying attention to the game. Those days are gone and as I watched Centralia’s starting pitcher in game 2, Nick Geertsen, go toe to toe with Lower Columbia’s starter Michael Callia, I sat back realizing that the West can truly be called a deep and competitive region.
The biggest area that I think Centralia is going to have to improve upon the rest of this season and moving forward is at the plate. Even though the NWAC is a wood bat league, runs still come fast and furious in a lot of games, and for the Blazers their pitching can keep them in games, but the offense is how they are going to win.
For Lower Columbia seeing Callia in game 2 and Griffin Henry in game 1, pitch as well as they did, just shows how solid the starting pitching is for LCC. Both guys took care of business, with Callia pitching a complete game, 7 innings, and not allowing a run.
When Lower Columbia is fully healthy and not in quarantine, it would be hard to say they aren’t one of the 4 best teams in the NWAC, and arguably the top team until someone is able to prove things otherwise. It is truly a shame that 2021 won’t allow NW baseball fans to see the top NWAC teams going head to head in a championship tourney.
LCC vs Centralia Game 1 Photos
LCC vs Centralia Game 2 Photos