It was a nice-looking ballgame, fitting for the gorgeous day it was, then the seventh-inning arrived — and things got ugly.

Visiting Meadowdale scored nine runs in the seventh inning to rip the Oak Harbor High School baseball team 13-2 in the district tournament opener Saturday, May 9.

Meadowdale (13-8) advances to the semifinals to face Shorewood (18-3), while Oak Harbor (13-7) hosts Arlington (10-11) in a loser-out game at 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 12.

Shorewood topped Arlington 8-1 Saturday.

Oak Harbor and Arlington met three times two weeks ago in conference play, with the Wildcats winning twice.

If Oak Harbor wants to claim one of the three spots allocated to District 1 into the next round of the playoffs, it will need to win three consecutive games in the consolation bracket.

If the third-seeded Wildcats get by Arlington, they will face the loser of the game between No. 1 seed Marysville-Pilchuck and No. 5 seed Lynnwood at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the home of the higher seed.

The tournament concludes at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at Everett Memorial Stadium.

Meadowdale started Saturday’s win with a pair of runs in the second inning on three straight two-out hits.

In the third inning, the Mavericks again struck with two outs, this time plating one run on a single and triple.

The score remained 3-0 until the top of the sixth when the Mavs chased starter Tyler Snavely with two hits to start the inning. A pair of hits off reliever Danny Wolfe pushed across a run to make it 4-0.

Meadowdale pitcher Elliott Reece cruised into the sixth inning with only one hiccup.

With one out in the third inning, Preston Rankin doubled and Kevyn Johnson reached on a error to put runners at the corners. A ground out and fly out ended the inning.

Reece put down eight in a row, then Oak Harbor finally broke through in the sixth inning.

Walks to Johnson and C.J. Meders (Reece’s first of the game) and a single by Brent Mertins loaded the bases with no outs. Snavely’s sacrifice fly scored one run, and another scored on Robert Herrings’ fielder’s choice to make it 4-2 going into the final inning.

Any momentum Oak Harbor banked in the sixth was quickly spent.

In the top of the seventh, the first six Mavericks reached base. The first three stroked base hits for one run, then things went south in a hurry for Oak Harbor. A three-base throwing error on a bunt allowed two runs to score, then a dropped ball on a routine fly to the outfield allowed another. That was followed by a ground ball slipping between the legs of a Wildcat infielder.

Three more hits and a hit batter followed.

The final hit of the inning came on a ground ball that took a crazy hop over the head of the Oak Harbor second baseman.

Reece finished the game with a four-hitter, striking out five and walking three.

Meders, Rankin, Mertins and Trent Benson collected Oak Harbor’s hits.

“They were just the better team today,” Oak Harbor coach Tyson VanDam said.

VanDam doesn’t expect any lingering effects from the Saturday’s meltdown: “This is a pretty loose group; not much bothers them. They should be fine.”

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Oak Harbor’s C.J. Meders slides safely into third base. Photo by Jim Waller.)