Woodland arrived at the Lumberyard on Tuesday with a ruckus, lively and vocal to the extent that R.A. Long coach Jason Castro took note — with a hint of envy.

The last audible words to escape from within the Beavers' bus as it rumbled out of the parking lot belonged to second-year Woodland coach Owen Frasier, who yelled, "That's right! Woo!"

The real statement happened in between.

Woodland matched its win total from 2011 and barged into the playoff conversation by beating the Lumberjacks 4-3 in a Greater St. Helens 2A League baseball game. The Beavers won by playing clutch baseball, a sign that they will stay in that conversation.

"We've come so far," said Frasier, who was 4-14 in his first season at Woodland. "We're not a team that quits anymore, that gets pushed around and pushed over."

Especially on Tuesday, the Beavers (4-7, 2-4 in league) pushed back. Woodland scored all of its runs with two outs. In fact, both Woodland rallies began with two outs and no one on base.

The Beavers were 7 for 14 with two outs.

"That won us the game," said junior catcher Brice McQuivey.

"We're stepping a lot better than we have before," added McQuivey, whose two-out, two-run double put Woodland ahead for good in the first inning. "We're more mentally tough that we were last year. We're becoming a more mature ball team."

With six league games down and six to go, the Beavers are in a strong position to make a run for the third and final playoff spot in the GSHL 2A, especially given the fact that they'll host a doubleheader against R.A. Long (2-8-1, 1-4) on May 2.

The Jacks? Work to do.

"Woodland got off the bus, and you could tell they were excited to be here fighting for a playoff spot," Castro said. "They had intensity. I wish our kids could do that. That's kind of been the feel of our season.

"We're not out of it," he added. "I'd like to see the guys step up and compete. Woodland really put itself in the driver's seat" for third.

R.A. Long had no answer Tuesday for Woodland starter Tanner Huddleston or closer Hunter Huddleston. Two of its three runs were unearned, and only three of its six hits left the infield.

The Jacks left 11 men on base, went 0 for 3 with the bases loaded and 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. That's another way of saying that the first Huddleston was in a lot of trouble — but wasn't made to pay.

"He wasn't 100 percent, but he was battling," Frasier said of his starter. "He made his pitches when he had to make pitches, even though he didn't have his best stuff. He kept grinding."

Tanner Huddleston allowed four hits, walked three, hit two batters and struck out six in five innings while allowing just one earned run — and that was in the third, when he loaded the bases twice. Hunter Huddleston took over in the sixth and faced seven batters, retiring six. A.J. Von Seggern, the only RAL player with two hits, slapped a one-out single to put the tying run at first in the seventh, but Huddleston got a strikeout and groundout to book the save.

In his last visit to the Lumberyard — in 2011 — Huddleston took the mound in the seventh with a 5-3 lead, and the Jacks won the game.

"That just shows our maturity," Frasier said.

Colton Lucas and Cy Whitmire each went 2 for 4 to pace Woodland at the plate.

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