Bainbridge Island’s bats roared throughout the Little League district and state tournaments, but a loss in the second game of at state in Vancouver put a strain on the team’s pitching and led to elimination Tuesday following an 8-3 loss to Pasco.

“We had four games in four days,” said Bainbridge Coach Troy Niehaus, “and after our first game it just got tougher for our pitchers.”

For example, staff ace Warren King opened the double-elimination tournament with a 9-2 win over Asotin County, but he threw 65 pitches and wasn’t eligible to throw again until Wednesday. Unfortunately, by then the tournament was over for Bainbridge.

The critical second game for Bainbridge on Sunday ended with a 13-11 loss to Alderwood, which, through the luck of the draw had a bye when the tournament opened on Saturday. Although Bainbridge had no problem handling the Lynnwood team’s best pitcher, it couldn’t contain Alderwood’s bats either.

“If we would have won that second game we would have been in pretty good shape because we wouldn’t have played again until Tuesday,” Niehaus said. “Then we would have Warren pitching the next game. But Alderwood was a good team and scored four runs late and we couldn’t quite catch them.”

Bainbridge was down 9-1 against Chehalis on Monday, but tied the game late and then won 15-13 in the seventh inning.

“That was probably the most amazing game I’ve ever been involved in, ” Niehaus said. “The kids just wouldn’t give up.”

In the next game, Bainbridge scored an early run but Pasco had a pair of two-run innings and then closed it out with five-hit, four-run fourth inning.

“It was disappointing, but the kids played great and we’re all really happy about that,” Niehaus said. “We were undefeated (in five games) in district and won two of four at state, so that’s pretty good.”

Bainbridge scored 100 over the two tournaments, hitting 23 home runs and holding the opposition to 44 runs.

The top batting average hitters at state for Bainbridge were Even Ferguson (.636), John Michael Najarian (.625), Thomas Crowley (.571) and Jack Niehaus (.500 with a homer).

Cameron Mikami hit three home runs in four state tournament games, while King hit a pair and Colin O’Keefe hit the two-run homer that beat Chehalis. Brooks Wallace also hit a home run and pitched five innings against a powerful Pasco team.