Meridian earned a state berth while two other Whatcom County teams remain alive following the opening round, semifinal and consolation first-round games of the 1A District 1/2 baseball tournament on Saturday, May 11 at Joe Martin Field and Sehome High School.
Recaps of all eight games are below.
Semifinals and consolation first round
Semifinals: Meridian 2, King’s 1
Meridian stranded the tying run at third base in the top of the sixth inning and the Trojans held on to clinch a state berth by defeating King’s in the district semifinals.
King’s very nearly flipped the game on its head late with a bases-loaded situation, trailing 2-1. With two outs on the board, junior pitcher and University of Washington commit Jonah Aase retired Knights junior Bodey Reiss in just three throws.
In the top of the seventh, Aase struck out all three King’s batters to preserve the win.
Both of Meridian’s runs came in the first inning, where Aase drove in the first, hitting an RBI single to right field to score freshman Pierce Brzozowski.
Senior Silas Berschauer then singled to center field to score senior Jacob Amundson before the bats went quiet on both sides for multiple innings.
Aase earned the save, but senior Ian Forbes picked up the win by pitching 5.1 innings and allowing four hits, one earned run and two walks while striking out three. Aase didn’t allow any hits or runs while striking out four in 1.2 innings.
Berschauer was the most consistent bat for the Trojans, finishing 2 for 2 with an RBI.
Meridian (16-6) will now face Cedar Park Christian (17-6) in the 1A District 1/2 championship at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11 at Joe Martin Field. Both teams have already clinched state berths.
Semifinals: Cedar Park Christian 9, Lynden Christian 3
Lynden Christian started fast but cooled off quicker in a district semifinal loss to Cedar Park Christian.
The Lyncs stole all the momentum from the start, getting a single, double and triple on their first three at-bats. That explosion brought two runners home, quickly giving the Lyncs a 2-0 advantage.
Cedar Park Christian tightened up defensively, ending the inning with two Lyncs runners stranded. LC’s once boisterous dugout quickly became quiet.
The Eagles trimmed LC’s lead to 2-1 after two innings, but freshman Eli Stamps re-extended the Lyncs’ lead to two in the top of the third inning on a line drive single that scored sophomore Sam Kok.
But that would be LC’s final score of the game. Cedar Park Christian scored four runs in the bottom of the third, three in the fourth and another in the fifth. LC had just one hit after the third inning, totaling six in the game.
Senior Adam Haight, Cedar Park Christian’s winning pitcher, threw 3.2 innings and allowed one hit, no runs and one walk while striking out eight.
LC’s pitchers, senior Brody Bouwman and sophomore Eli Maberry, struggled in the loss, combining to allow 12 hits, seven earned runs and a walk while striking out just three.
LC (12-9) will now face league rival Nooksack Valley (9-11) at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 11 at Sehome High School. The winner of that game will move on to the consolation final later that day with a state berth on the line.
Consolation: Nooksack Valley 2, South Whidbey 1
Nooksack Valley extended its season one more week with a narrow victory over South Whidbey in the first round of consolation games.
South Whidbey’s only run came on the same play as its final out. Prior to that, Nooksack Valley had added runs in the fourth and sixth innings.
Sophomore Evan Brown put together a quality game on the mound for the Pioneers, allowing five hits, one earned run and three walks while striking out three.
Senior Kasey Newton finished the game 1 for 2 at the plate with a run scored. Sophomore Matthew Blake went 1 for 2 with a run scored.
South Whidbey outhit Nooksack Valley, 5-2, but the Pioneers’ timely defense helped keep them in front.
Nooksack Valley will now face Lynden Christian at 1 p.m. on May 11 at Sehome High School. That will be an elimination game.
Consolation: Overlake 2, Blaine 1
Blaine saw its season end following a close, extra-inning loss to Overlake in the consolation first round of the district tournament.
After seven scoreless innings, the game entered the eighth with Overlake up to bat first. The Owls quickly loaded the bases, scoring twice and threatening more. Fortunately, Blaine was able to transition the inning with two left on base.
Consecutive singles by senior Alejandro Moser-Hernandez and junior Evan Yates put Blaine in scoring position with one out on the board. Following a wild pitch that advanced the Borderites’ runners, freshman Aaron Garza grounded out to third base but allowed Yates to score.
Now with two outs and one runner remaining, Blaine had the tying run on third base. A flyout on the next at-bat ended the Borderites’ season.
Blaine (12-10) will lose nine seniors to graduation, slating just six players to return to next year’s team.
Opening round
King’s 10, Nooksack Valley 0
Nooksack Valley fell behind early and couldn’t recover in an opening-round shutout loss to King’s.
The Pioneers had a chance to take an early lead in the top of the first with just one out and the bases loaded. However, all three would be left on base after consecutive putouts.
King’s responded by ripping off three runs in the first inning and four in the second. Nooksack Valley had just one hit after its strong start in the first frame.
Senior Caden Kennelly and juniors Luke Echelbarger and Reiss all finished with at least two RBIs for King’s. The Knights piled up eight hits.
Meridian 1, South Whidbey 0
Brzozowski’s two-out double in the bottom of the fifth inning scored fellow freshman Nate Payne and Meridian earned a slim victory over South Whidbey in the first round of the district tournament.
It was a pitcher’s battle for much of the game, with Meridian employing Payne for 6.1 innings and South Whidbey letting senior Liam Petty go all six innings on the mound.
South Whidbey had just two hits in the game while Meridian had one — which led to the contest’s only score. Payne struck out four batters in his time on the mount while Petty struck out five for South Whidbey.
Lynden Christian 8, Overlake 0
Lynden Christian kicked off its postseason with a shutout of Overlake via an eight-run flurry in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Sophomore Trey Johnson began the bombardment, doubling on a line drive down the third base line to score sophomore Sam Kok and giving LC a 1-0 lead.
Later in the frame, the Lyncs scored runs on six consecutive at-bats, deflating Overlake’s defense and shaking the Owls’ pitching staff.
Senior Jonah Terpstra was sound on the mound all game, pitching a complete game and allowing nine hits, no runs and no walks while striking out three batters.
Johnson went 3 for 4 at the plate for LC with a run scored and two RBIs. Kok finished 2 for 3 with two runs scored.
Cedar Park Christian 6, Blaine 0
Blaine logged just one hit versus Cedar Park Christian pitcher Keller Standish and the Borderites fell 6-0 to the Eagles to begin districts.
After a scoreless first four innings, Cedar Park Christian blew the game open with a five-run spurt in the bottom of the fifth.
The Eagles piled up 10 hits on the Borderites’ pitchers, while senior Grady Swinburnson had the lone connection for Blaine — finishing 1 for 3 at the plate.
Standish pitched all seven innings for Cedar Park Christian, striking out 13 Borderites.
Connor J. Benintendi is a former CDN sports reporter, send tips and information to newstips@cascadiadaily.com.
