Baseball playoff trail starts here Saturday

Colfax baseball team will start the first of three Saturday playoff dates on the state playoff grid. The Bulldogs go into the playoffs as the number-two team from the NE-South league behind the league winners, Asotin.

Both Asotin and Colfax get to host the first NE rounds as the top two finishers on the south side, and the top two on the NE-north will host the other rounds.

First round Saturday for day one of the playoffs will match Mary Walker, the sixth-place team on the north side, with the third-place team on the north side in a loser-out game. The north side gets an extra playoff entry because fewer teams competed on the south side of the league.

Colfax will play the winner of that first game at 4 p.m.

The second Saturday of the playoffs May 11 will send the four winners from the first round to Medical Lake to decide which three NE teams advance to the state’s 16-team regional round. The regional round will send four teams to the state finals which will be back at Wheeler Field in Centralia.

Colfax Saturday took both games of a doubleheader in a road trip to Orofino. The Bulldogs took a 1-0 win in the opener after scoring in the sixth inning.

Nate Akesson pitched into the seventh inning, allowed three hits and fanned eight Orofino batters. Layne Gingerich came into the game to get the last out and was credited for the save.

Gingerich, Akesson, Mason Miller, Kelan Becker and Kolby Sisk had the five hits for Colfax in the close first game.

Joe Sporano took the loss for Orofino.

The Bulldogs booked a 14-4 win in the second game with 11 hits, and Gingerich threw a five-hitter.

Gingerich, Miller and Isaiah Buri each had two hits.