In two matchups of college-bound pitchers, Columbia River outduels Washougal to sweep 2A GSHL baseball series

Players come and go, but one thing remains a virtual certainty on the Columbia River baseball team year after year. The Rapids’ pitching staff can go toe to toe with anyone in the 2A Greater St. Helens League and beyond.

River, the defending 2A state champion, was put to the test in its league-opening series this week against Washougal, with two straight games featuring college-bound senior pitchers on each side.

Left-handed pitcher Harrison Hoffarth, a Seattle University commit, led the Rapids to a 2-0 win in Friday’s series finale at Propstra Stadium, after tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts, three walks and four hits allowed. Washougal’s Tyler Thompson, a Clark College commit, went seven innings with five strikeouts, zero walks, eight hits and two earns runs given up.

The Rapids’ win came on the heels of a 3-2 win over the Panthers on Wednesday when Washougal’s Jacob Bellamy (University of Portland) and River’s Noah Coakes (uncommitted) battled into the sixth inning before the Rapids scored three unanswered runs in the seventh for a walk-off.

“It was a battle … four college arms going head-to-head in two games,” River coach Stephen Donohue said.

“Like I told the guys, any time you can get a couple wins against a couple college arms — we do have a lot of new guys, obviously, so they’re kind of learning as we go what it takes at this level. It was a really good battle. I think Washougal is going to be a good squad all year long. They’ll be in a lot of games with their pitching.”

Hoffarth’s effective outing on the mound held the Panthers’ bats in check, and he also made the game-changing play at the plate in the third inning by hitting a line drive double to bring in both of the Rapids’ runs.

“Controlling the game — that’s what I like to do,” Hoffarth said. “On the mound, obviously, shut them down and then go up, hit, same way — shut them down.”

Hoffarth handed the ball to closer Kellen Bashaw in the sixth inning after eclipsing 100 pitches. Bashaw got out of trouble with a game-ending strikeout after Washougal loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh. Combined with strong pitching, the Rapids’ defense played two error-free games against the Panthers this week.

“It’s obviously a good thing when you can win close games because it will come into play later in the year, hopefully,” Donohue said.

“At the end of the year you win with pitching and defense, so we’re doing a good job in that regard. Hopefully we can get our bats going to where we’re not making everything so tight.”

River is still looking for more consistency at the plate with plenty of new faces in the mix after graduating 14 seniors from its 2024 state title run. The Rapids were cautiously optimistic after Friday’s performance featuring six players who combined for eight hits, led by two apiece from leadoff batter Zach Sims and Hoffarth.

“We’re not exactly where we want to be, but we’re improving,” Hoffarth said. “You can see our hits went up today, we’re definitely putting balls in play harder, making good plays in the field and we’re just getting there. Just getting started.”

Another showdown awaits River next week in a series against Ridgefield, the 2024 league co-champion, which has three of its top four pitchers back in tow this season.

COLUMBIA RIVER 2, WASHOUGAL 0

Col. River         002       000       0—2      8           0

Washougal         000       000       o—0        5            1

Columbia River

Pitching — Harrison Hoffarth 5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 11 K; Kellen Bashaw 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; Highlights — Zach Sims 2-4, 2B, R; Charley Eisenhauer 1-3, R; Kian Siegel 1-3; Hoffarth 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Conrad Pfeifer 1-3, 2B; Luke Sheron 1-3.

Washougal

Pitching — Tyler Thompson 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K; Highlights — Jacob Bellamy 2-3; Sam McKee 2-4, 2B; Nash Neumann 1-4.