74 works of Canadian fiction to read in fall 2023

Stephen King Explains Why One Of His New Short Stories Took Him Nearly A Half-Century To Finish

If you consider yourself one of Stephen King's Constant Readers, I surely don't have to tell you why this week is special. One has to go all the way back to 1976 to find a calendar year without the release of a single King book, and his 2024 tome just arrived in stores everywhere on Tuesday. Whether you like hardcovers, eBooks or audiobooks, the new collection You Like It Darker is now available for your immediate consumption.

Appropriately, this week's edition of The King Beat is in large part a celebration of the new omnibus – but that's not all. Fans will also be excited to learn the latest news about director Osgood Perkins' upcoming adaptation The Monkey and acquire some wisdom via advice from the King of Horror. Let's dig in!

(Image credit: Scribner) "The Answer Man" Is A Brand New Short Story In Stephen King's Latest Collection, But He First Started Writing It In The 1970s

Given the scale of Stephen King's body of work in the last 50 years, it might be hard to believe that the man ever writes anything that hits a creative dead end and doesn't get finished… but that's perhaps forgetting that King is human. His most brilliant stories have a tendency to become best-selling novels, but like any writer, he pursues some ideas that don't develop properly and ultimately peter out. Most of these aborted projects end up being filed away and forgotten – but "The Answer Man," a new tale featured in You Like It Darker, is an exception, as it was dead and lost for decades before being recently resurrected and completed.

Promoting his newest collection, Stephen King recently spoke with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly, and their conversation began with a discussion of "The Answer Man," which is the twelfth and final story in the new book. In the afterword of You Like It Darker, King notes that he started it when it was 30 and finished it was 75, and he explained in the interview why it took so long to get done:

Well, I lost it. What happens with me is I will write stories and they usually get done, and they don't always get done. And the ones that don't get done go in a drawer, and I forget all about them. And about five years ago, these people started to collect all the stuff that was finished and all this stuff that was unfinished and put it in an archive.

According to King, the collection process for the archive dug into just about every nook and cranny of his work space – "desk drawers, wastebaskets underneath the desk, every place" – and it was during this sweep that John Leonard, the author's nephew found six pages of a story called "The Answer Man." Leonard shared his interest in the work with King, and the latter discovered some fresh inspiration"

My nephew John Leonard found this particular story, which was written in the U.N. Plaza Hotel back in the '70s, I think. And he said, 'You know, this is pretty good. You really ought to finish this.' And I read it and I said, "You know, I think I know how to finish it now.' So I did. And I don't think I ever decided it was a bad story. I just left that particular hotel and forgot about it.

It should be noted that "The Answer Man" isn't unique within the Stephen King canon as a resurrected story. For example, he originally wrote 75 pages of what would become Under The Dome in the mid-1970s, but that manuscript was lost, and he brought the idea back with new ideas 30 years later. Similarly, he first conceptualized 11.22.63 in 1972, but the trauma of the John F. Kennedy assassination was too fresh in his mind, and he didn't have the ability to take on the amount of research required for the book due to his employment as a full-time teacher.

What does make "The Answer Man" special, however, is that Stephen King found himself communicating with himself in the past while writing it, or as he puts it in the afterword, "calling into a canyon of time and listening for the echo to come back." Playing out in three acts, the story follows a young man who is out driving and contemplating his career as a lawyer – deciding whether to join his parents' established firm in Boston or carve out his own path. Amid this contemplation, he sees a man sitting at a table on the side of the road under an umbrella, and he is offered a deal: pay $25 and have three of his most pressing questions answered. But does anyone really want firm answers about their own future?

Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News

King explained in the NPR interview that finishing "The Answer Man" was in part an exercise in communicating with his 30-year-old self, saying,

When I was a young man, I had a young man's ideas about The Answer Man, and I could see the course of this story. But now, as a man who has reached, let us say, a certain age, I'm forced to write from experience and just an idea of what it might be like to be an old man. So yeah, it felt to me like yelling and then waiting for the echo to come back all these years later.

It really says something about Stephen King as a writer that a long-forgotten idea from a half-century ago can be brought back and crafted into a gem.

(Image credit: Putnam) The Monkey Has Landed A Distribution Deal At The Cannes Market And Is Planning A 2025 Release

Two weeks ago, I noted here in The King Beat that Francis Lawrence's The Long Walk was launching sales at the Cannes Film Market, and while we sadly haven't heard any update about that project yet, the event has produced good news for another upcoming Stephen King adaptation – namely Osgood Perkins' The Monkey. It was previously reported in March that the new movie based on the short story of the same name had secretly completed production, and it was revealed this past week that the project has been picked up for domestic distribution by Neon.

Deadline provided the scoop on The Monkey this past Saturday, noting that Neon only acquired the project following a "a multi-buyer tug of war" and that the deal is in the "high seven figures." As previously reported, the movie stars Theo James as a pair of identical twin brothers who are forced to reunite when they discover that a sinister toy from their childhood – a cursed cymbal-banging monkey that seems to cause death whenever it turns on – has resurfaced and needs to be destroyed forever. The short story on which it is based is featured in the 1985 collection Skeleton Crew, and the film co-stars Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O'Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy.

Neon seems like it's probably a good fit for The Monkey given that the distributor is all set to release Osgood Perkins' next film, Longlegs, this July. That being said, the unfortunate part of this news is that Neon apparently doesn't want to release two of Perkins' movies in the same calendar year. Per the trade report, a theatrical release is being planned for 2025.

Because of this distribution strategy, it may be a minute before we actually get a trailer for The Monkey – but we'll hopefully hear more about the project very soon.

(Image credit: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group) Stephen King Shares Some Wonderful Advice In Esquire's What I've Learned Interview Series

Stephen King is a font of great advice – and not just for aspiring writers. The man has lived an extraordinary life, full of incredible success and battled demons, and he's admirable for not just his talent but also his dedication to his family and charity. The man knows quite a lot, and this week, he shared some of his knowledge as part of Esquire's "What I've Learned" interview series.

The piece touches on a lot of different topics, including fame, reading reviews, and marriage – but, as you would expect, the number one subject is writing. There is some terrific advice for those in the profession of putting words on a page, such as this message about self-importance:

You can't think of writing as an adult pursuit or anything that's important. That's a good way to turn into a gasbag and start to think that you're really fucking important. You're not. You just do your work.

Stephen King also explains the importance of having a dedicated work ethic and why it's important to keep pegging away every day. If you slow down, your perspective on what you're working on is apt to change – or as he puts it,

I have to work every day because I have to keep it fresh. If you take a few days off, it all starts to look kind of tacky—like an old campaign poster that's running in the rain.

Of course, failure happens. When it does, you have to be comfortable moving on:

It doesn't always work. I've got stories that just ram up against a brick wall. They're in my right desk drawer. I don't look in there.

Admittedly, that last bit of advice is funny given the aforementioned development of "The Answer Man." Perhaps he should do a bit more digging in that drawer once in a while.

(Image credit: ABC) Recommendation Of The Week: "Two Talented Bastids"

I decided not to get too fancy with my Recommendation Of The Week for this edition of The King Beat. If you pick up a copy of You Like It Darker and flip past the title page and the dedications, the first story you'll find is the tale "Two Talented Bastids" Makes sense to start at the start, right?

The story is told from the perspective of a middle-aged man named Mark Carmody, who has spent the majority of his life aware of a certain mystery surrounding his father, Laird Carmody, a famous author, and Laird's best friend, Dave "Butch" LaVerdiere, a beloved artist. What makes Laird and Dave so strange is that they both came from humble beginnings and didn't find success in their respective fields until reaching middle age. It's only after Laird's death that Mark starts to uncover the truth – which begins with the contents of a manila envelope in a locked desk drawer.

That wraps up this week's edition of The King Beat, but be sure to head back here to CinemaBlend next Thursday for my latest column. Meanwhile, you can learn about the full history of Stephen King's stories in film and television with my series Adapting Stephen King.

Short Selling Basics: How It Works

Short selling—also known as "shorting," "selling short" or "going short"—refers to the sale of a security or financial instrument that the seller has borrowed. The short seller believes that the borrowed security's price will decline, enabling it to be bought back at a lower price for a profit. The difference between the price at which the security was sold and the price at which it was purchased represents the short seller's profit—or loss, as the case may be.

Key Takeaways

Short selling entails taking a bearish position in the market, hoping to profit from a security whose price loses value.

To sell short, the security must first be borrowed on margin and then sold in the market, to be bought back at a later date.

While some critics have argued that selling short is unethical because it is a bet against growth, most economists now recognize it as an important piece of a liquid and efficient market.

Is Short Selling Ethical? Short selling is perhaps one of the most misunderstood topics in the realm of investing. In fact, short sellers are often reviled as callous individuals out for financial gain at any cost, without regard for the companies and livelihoods destroyed in the short-selling process. Short sellers have been labeled by some critics as being unethical because they bet against the economy. But short sellers enable the markets to function smoothly by providing liquidity, and they can serve as a restraining influence on investors' over-exuberance. Excessive optimism often drives stocks up to lofty levels, especially at market peaks—dotcoms and technology stocks in the late 1990s, for example, and on a lesser scale, commodity and energy stocks from 2003 to 2007. Short selling acts as a reality check that can eventually limit the rise of stocks being bid up to ridiculous levels during times of excessive exuberance. While shorting is fundamentally risky since it goes against the long-term upward trend of the markets, it is especially perilous when markets are surging. Short sellers confronted with escalating losses in a relentless bull market are reminded of John Maynard Keynes' famous adage: "The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent." Overall, short selling is simply another way for stock investors to seek profits. Although short selling attracts its share of unscrupulous operators who may resort to unethical tactics to drive down the price of a stock, this is not very different from stock touts who use rumors and hype in "pump-and-dump" schemes to drive up a stock. Short selling has arguably gained more respect in recent years with the involvement of hedge funds, quant funds, and other institutional investors on the short side. The eruption of two global bear markets within the first decade of this millennium has also increased the willingness of investors to learn about short selling as a tool for hedging portfolio risk. Short selling can provide some defense against financial fraud by exposing companies that have fraudulently attempted to inflate their performances. Short sellers often do their homework, thoroughly researching before adopting a short position. Such research often brings to light information not readily available elsewhere and certainly not commonly available from brokerage houses that prefer to issue buy rather than sell recommendations. The Mechanics of Selling Short Let's use a basic example to demonstrate the short-selling process. For starters, you would need a margin account at a brokerage firm to short a stock. You would then have to fund this account with a certain amount of margin. The standard margin requirement is 150%, which means that you have to come up with 50% of the proceeds that would accrue to you from shorting a stock. So if you want to short-sell 100 shares of a stock trading at $10, you have to put in $500 as margin in your account. Let's say you have opened a margin account and are now looking for a suitable short-selling candidate. You decide that Conundrum Co. (a fictional company) is poised for a substantial decline, and decide to short 100 shares at $50 per share. Here is how the short-sale process works: You place the short-sale order through your online brokerage account or financial advisor. Note that you have to declare the short sale as such because an undeclared short sale amounts to a violation of securities laws. Your broker will attempt to borrow the shares from a number of sources, including the brokerage's inventory, from the margin accounts of one of its clients, or from another broker-dealer. Regulation SHO from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires a broker-dealer to have reasonable grounds to believe that the security can be borrowed before effecting a short sale in any security. This is known as the "locate" requirement. Once the shares have been borrowed or "located" by the broker-dealer, they will be sold in the market and the proceeds deposited in your margin account. Your margin account now has $7,500 in it: $5,000 from the short sale of 100 shares of Conundrum at $50, plus $2,500 (50% of $5,000) as your margin deposit. Let's say that after a month, Conundrum is trading at $40. You therefore buy back the 100 Conundrum shares that were sold short at $40, spending $4,000. Your gross profit, ignoring costs and commissions for simplicity, is therefore $1,000 ($5,000 - $4,000). On the other hand, suppose Conundrum does not decline as you had expected but instead surges to $70. Your loss in this case is $2,000 ($5,000 - $7,000). A short sale can be regarded as the mirror image of "going long," or buying a stock. In the above example, the other side of your short sale transaction would have been taken by a buyer of Conundrum Co. Your short position of 100 shares in the company is offset by the buyer's long position of 100 shares. The stock buyer, of course, has a risk-reward payoff that is the polar opposite of the short seller's payoff. In the first scenario, while the short seller has a profit of $1,000 from a decline in the stock, the stock buyer has a loss of the same amount. In the second scenario, where the stock advances, the short seller has a loss of $2,000, which is equal to the gain recorded by the buyer. Short Selling Example: GameStop GameStop (GME), a retailer focused on video games and related merchandise, offers a good example of short selling, how it works, and the risks involved. In 2020, GameStop's stock was performing poorly, trading at $1 or $2 per share. At the time, there was significant short interest in GameStop because investors believed that the company would fall in value. Then, GameStop became part of the meme stock rally. In August 2020, YouTube persona Roaring Kitty posted a video explaining that the stock could rise in value by more than 1,000% thanks in part to the short interest. Later that year, investor Ryan Cohen purchased a greater than 10% stake in the company and joined the board. The stock rose on this news. Shares slowly rose in price before rapidly spiking in January 2021 to a high of more than $80. The short squeeze then began in earnest. As the price of shares rose, people with short positions had to purchase shares to close the position and prevent additional losses. That led to increased demand for GameStop shares, driving the price even higher. This led to a self-reinforcing cycle of short sellers trying to close their positions by buying shares, boosting demand, and leading to higher share prices. This cycle seemed to repeat itself on May 13, 2024, when Roaring Kitty, who had been silent for years, posted on the social media platform X, causing GameStop and other meme stocks, such as theater chain AMC Entertainment (AMC), to surge. GameStop had been trading at about $10 per share in April 2024. But amid a renewed frenzy, the company's shares reached the highest price since 2021, opening at $64.83 on May 14. Meanwhile, GameStop short sellers lost over $2 billion on May 13 and May 14, according to the analytics firm Ortex Technologies. Who Are Typical Short Sellers? Hedge funds Hedge funds are one of the most active entities involved in shorting activity. Most hedge funds try to hedge market risk by selling short stocks or sectors that they consider overvalued. Hedgers Not to be confused with hedge funds, hedging involves taking an offsetting position in a security in order to limit the risk exposure in the initial position. An investor who buys or sells options can use a delta hedge to offset their risk by holding long and short positions of the same underlying asset. Individuals Sophisticated investors are also involved in short selling, either to hedge market risk or simply for speculation. Speculators account for a significant share of short activity. Day traders are another key segment of the short side. Short selling is ideal for short-term traders who have the wherewithal to keep a close eye on their trading positions, as well as the necessary experience to make quick trading decisions. Regulations on Short Selling Short selling was restricted by the "uptick rule" for almost 70 years in the United States. Implemented by the SEC in 1938, the rule required every short sale transaction to be entered into at a price that was higher than the previous traded price, or on an uptick. The rule was designed to prevent short sellers from exacerbating the downward momentum in a stock when it is already declining. The uptick rule was repealed by the SEC in July 2007. A number of market experts believe this repeal contributed to the ferocious bear market and market volatility of 2008 to 2009. In 2010, the SEC adopted an "alternative uptick rule" that restricts short selling when a stock has dropped at least 10% in one day. In 2004 and 2005, the SEC implemented Regulation SHO, which updated short-sale regulations that had been essentially unchanged since 1938. Regulation SHO specifically sought to curb naked short selling—in which the seller does not borrow or arrange to borrow the shorted security—by imposing "locate" and "close-out" requirements for short sales. In October 2023, the SEC announced a new rule aimed at enhancing the transparency of short-selling practices for both regulators and the general public. Investment managers who hold large short positions are required to report those positions to the SEC if the short position in a particular security is at least $10 million or 2.5% or more of the total shares outstanding on average during that month. An aggregated, anonymized version of that data will be disclosed to the public. Risks and Rewards Short selling involves a number of risks, including the following: Skewed Risk-Reward Payoff Unlike a long position in a security, where the loss is limited to the amount invested in the security and the potential profit is boundless, a short sale carries the risk of infinite loss. Meanwhile, the maximum gain—which would occur if the stock drops to zero—is limited. Shorting is Expensive Short selling involves a number of costs over and above trading commissions. A significant cost is associated with borrowing shares to short, in addition to the interest that is normally payable on a margin account. The short seller is also on the hook for dividend payments made by the stock that has been shorted. Going Against the Grain As noted earlier, short selling goes against the entrenched upward trend of the markets. Most investors and other market participants are long-only, creating natural momentum in one direction. Timing Is Everything The timing of the short sale is critical since initiating a short sale at the wrong time can be a recipe for disaster. Because short sales are conducted on margin, if the price goes up instead of down, you can quickly see losses as brokers require the sales to be repurchased at ever higher prices, creating a short squeeze. Regulatory Risks Regulators occasionally impose bans on short sales because of market conditions; this may trigger a spike in the markets, forcing the short seller to cover positions at a big loss. Stocks that are heavily shorted also have a risk of "buy-in," which refers to the closing out of a short position by a broker-dealer if the stock is very hard to borrow and its lenders are demanding it back. Strict Trading Discipline Required The plethora of risks associated with short selling means that it is only suitable for traders and investors who have the trading discipline required to cut their losses when required. Holding an unprofitable short position in the hope that it will come back is not a viable strategy. Short selling requires constant position monitoring and adherence to tight stop losses. Risks Requires constant monitoring and strict trading discipline Unforeseen regulatory bans can cause significant losses and, even without bans, losses can be immense and fast Short selling can incur expensive costs and requires timing capabilities Rewards Short selling offers profit potential by capitalizing on market downturns, counterbalancing the usual long-only momentum Potential benefits from anti-cyclical behavior While short selling entails substantial risk, it also presents opportunities for significant returns Why Do Investors Generally Short-Sell? Investors short-sell to profit from a decline in a security's price. This strategy allows them to earn money during a market downturn. Can Any Security Be Shorted? Not all securities can be shorted. Certain stocks may be designated as "hard to borrow" due to a lack of supply, regulatory restrictions, or the unwillingness of brokerage firms to lend out the securities. What Is a Short Squeeze? A short squeeze happens when a stock's price rises sharply, causing short sellers to buy it in order to forestall even larger losses. Their scramble to buy only adds to the upward pressure on the stock's price. Can You Short-Sell ETFs? Yes, most exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be shorted like regular stocks. However, because ETFs represent baskets of stocks, they may be less volatile than individual stocks, which could reduce potential profits from short selling. The Bottom Line Given these risks, why bother to short? Because stocks and markets often decline much faster than they rise and some overvalued securities can be profit opportunities. For example, the S&P 500 doubled over a five-year period from 2002 to 2007, but then plunged 55% in less than 18 months, from October 2007 to March 2009. Astute investors who were short the market during this plunge made windfall profits from their short positions. Short selling is, nonetheless, a relatively advanced strategy best suited for sophisticated investors or traders who are familiar with the risks of shorting and the regulations involved. The average investor may be better served by using put options to hedge downside risk or to speculate on a decline because of the limited risk involved. But for those who know how to use it effectively, short selling can be a potent weapon in one's investing arsenal.

Aberdeen Falls One Game Short Of State Third-place Game

May 27—Aberdeen finished one game short of the 2A State Softball Tournament third/fourth-place game on Saturday at Carlon Park in Selah.

2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

First Round

No. 3 Aberdeen, No. 14 Enumclaw 1

Aberdeen opened its 2A State Tournament with a 2-1 win over No. 14 Enumclaw on Friday in Selah.

Locked in a pitcher's dual between Aberdeen senior Annika Hollingsworth and the Hornets' Alyssa Harris, the Bobcats (19-6 overall) broke the scoreless tie when sophomore catcher Alyssa Yakovich belted a two-run home run deep over the center-field wall for a 2-0 lead.

Hollingsworth allowed a run in the top of the seventh on a Harris fielder's choice ground out before striking out Kaylie Plyler to end the game.

Hollingsworth allowed just two hits in the game and struck out 12. At one point the Bobcats right-hander retired 13 Hornets in a row.

Enumclaw 000 000 1 — 1 2 1

Aberdeen 000 020 x — 2 2 0

WP: Hollingsworth (7 IP, R, ER, 2H, 12K). LP: Harris (6 IP, 2R, ER, 2H, 10K).

Leading hitters: Enumclaw — Flaherty (1-3, 2B, R); Elder (1-2); Harris (0-3, RBI). Aberdeen — A. Yakovich (1-2, HR, R, 2RBI); Mainio (1-2).

Quarterfinals

No. 6 Tumwater 11, No. 3 Aberdeen 0

Aberdeen saw its hopes of a state championship dashed by a familiar league foe.

In the fifth meeting of the season between the two teams, Aberdeen (19-7) lost to Tumwater 11-0 in a six-inning state quarterfinal matchup on Friday.

In their fifth meeting of the season and second of the postseason, Tumwater broke a scoreless tie when Marissa LaPraim hit a three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning.

The Thunderbirds added four in the fifth and four more in the sixth — with home runs in each inning — to take an 11-0 lead.

The Bobcats offense managed just one hit — a Scotlyn Lecomte two-out double in the bottom of the second — against Tumwater starting pitcher Ella Ferguson.

Lilly Camp took the loss, allowing three earned runs on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts in four innings pitched.

Annika Hollingsworth pitched two innings of relief, allowing eight earned runs on eight hits and a walk with three strikeouts in two innings pitched.

Tumwater 000 344 — 11 10 0

Aberdeen 000 000 — 0 1 2

WP: Ferguson (6 IP, 0R, H, 9K). LP: Camp (4 IP, 3R, 3ER, 2H, 2BB, 3K).

Leading hitters: Tumwater — Hasse (2-4, 2 HR, 2R, 4RBI); Paull (2-3, HR, R, 3RBI); LaPraim (2-3, 2R); Ferguson (1-4, 2B, R, 2RBI); Fields (1-4, 2B, R, 2RBI); Stevens (1-3, R). Aberdeen — Lecomte (1-2).

Consolation Second Round

No. 3 Aberdeen 12, No. 8 Olympic 2

Aberdeen took control early and never looked back in a 12-2 five-inning victory over No. 8 Olympic on Friday.

The Bobcats (20-7) scored six runs in the top of the first capped by a three-run home run off the bat of sophomore Rylee Hendrickson.

Aberdeen's offense added four more runs in the top of the second, taking a 10-0 lead on a three-run home run by outfielder Scotlyn Lecomte.

The Bobcats had 10 hits in the game — four for extra bases — and were led by Hendrickson, who went 3-for-3 in the game.

Hollingsworth allowed two runs on four hits and a walk with 11 strikeouts to pick up the win.

Aberdeen 642 00 — 12 10 0

Olympic 020 00 — 2 4 2

WP: Hollingsworth (5 IP, 2R, 2ER, 4H, BB, 11K). LP: Brown (4 IP, 12R, 7ER, 10H, 3BB).

Leading hitters: Aberdeen — Hendrickson (3-3, HR, 2R, 3RBI); Hollingsworth (2-3, RBI); L. Yakovich (1-3, 2B, 2R); A. Yakovich (1-3, R, 2RBI); Lecomte (1-3, HR, R, 4RBI); Braaten (1-2, 2B, R).

Consolation Third Round

No. 3 Aberdeen 11, No. 5 W.F. West 1

In their second meeting of the tournament against a league rival, Aberdeen hammered W.F. West 11-1 to end the Bearcats season on Saturday.

Aberdeen (21-7) got off to a hot start by scoring five runs in the first on doubles by sisters Laynie and Alyssa Yakovich and a Shyanna Patrick RBI single, driving in two runs.

An Alyssa Yakovich single drove in a run in the second and the Bobcats took a 8-1 lead after Scotlyn Lecomte belted a two-run home run to center field in the fifth.

A two-run double off the bat of Lilly Camp put Aberdeen up 10-1 in the sixth and was followed by a Lecomte RBI single to put the game into 10-run rule territory.

Annika Hollingsworth worked around a leadoff single to strike out the side in the sixth to end the game.

Five Bobcats had two hits in the game, led by Lecomte who drove in three runs.

Aberdeen 510 023 — 11 12 1

W.F. West 000 100 — 1 2 1

WP: Hollingsworth (6 IP, R, ER, 2H, 2BB, 10K). LP: Tobin (1.1 IP, 6R, 6ER, 5H, 2BB, K).

Leading hitters: Aberdeen — Lecomte (2-4, HR, R, 3RBI); Hollingsworth (2-2, 2B); L. Yakovich (2-4, 2B, 2R, RBI); A. Yakovich (2-4, 2B, 3RBI); Camp (2-3, 2B, 2R, 2RBI); Patrick (1-4, 2RBI). WFW — Myers (1-3, HR, R, RBI); Froschauer (1-3).

Consolation Semifinals

No. 4 Port Angeles 6, No. 3 Aberdeen 2

Playing in its fifth game in two days, Aberdeen saw its season come to an end with a 6-2 loss to No. 4 Port Angeles in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.

The Bobcats (21-8) fell behind 6-0 after Roughriders outfielder Ava-Anne Sheahan hit a two-run home run in the second and a grand slam in the third off Aberdeen pitcher Lilly Camp, accounting for all of Port Angeles' offense.

Aberdeen scored a pair of runs in the fifth on RBI singles by short stop Zoe Vessey and catcher Alyssa Yakovich to make it a 6-2 game.

The Bobcats had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but failed to push any runs across as Alyssa Yakovich hit into a fielder's choice ground out and Camp followed with a line out at first to end the game, and Aberdeen's season.

Camp took the loss, allowing six runs — two earned — on five hits with 12 strikeouts in seven innings pitched.

Port Angeles 024 000 0 — 6 5 4

Aberdeen 000 020 0 — 2 4 1

WP: Reid (4.1 IP, 2R, 0ER, 3H, BB, 3K). LP: Camp (7 IP, 6R, 2ER, 5H, 12K).

Leading hitters: Port Angeles — Sheahan (2-3, 2 HR, 2R, 6RBI); Rognlien (1-3, 2R); Lexie Smith (1-3, 2B); Lindsay Smith (1-3). Aberdeen — A. Yakovich (1-4, RBI); Vessey (1-3, R, RBI); Hollingsworth (1-3); L. Yakovich (1-4).

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