Meridian and Lynden baseball both clinched state semifinal berths and will move on to play at Joe Martin Stadium, while Lynden Christian was eliminated in the quarterfinals on Saturday, May 18.
No. 6 Meridian (18-7) will now face No. 2 Cedar Park Christian (Bothell) in the 1A semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday, May 24 at Joe Martin Stadium. The Trojans lost to Cedar Park Christian, 4-2, in the district title game on May 11.
No. 6 Lynden (21-5) takes on the winner of No. 2 Columbia River and No. 7 W.F. West in the 2A state semifinals at 10 a.m. on May 24 at Joe Martin Stadium.
No. 13 Lynden Christian’s season ends with a 14-11 overall record.
Meridian
Meridian pitched two straight shutouts and the Trojans vaulted to the 1A state semifinals with wins over Kiona-Benton in the opening round and Seton Catholic in the quarterfinals Saturday at Camas High School
Meridian held off Kiona-Benton 3-0 in the opener, then Jonah Aase fanned 15 batters in a complete-game gem to help the Trojans to a gritty 1-0 victory over Seton Catholic. Aase allowed five hits and two walks.
The Trojans’ lone run came when Tyson Timmer hit a grounder to Seton Catholic’s second basemen, who committed an error, allowing Silas Berschauer to score from second. It’s all the Trojans would need as Aase kept dealing to seal the win.
Meridian was out-hit 5-2, with Timmer and Berschauer each notching the base hits. Aase and Tristan Wang both walked once.
Lynden
Lynden edged No. 11 Ellensburg, 3-2, in its state opener, then used a five-run second inning to upset No. 3 North Kitsap, 8-4 in the quarterfinals on Saturday at Lincoln High School in Tacoma.
Lynden used two walks and a sacrifice bunt to load the bases in the second inning, setting up four straight RBI singles to help the Lions jump out to a 5-0 lead. Lane Simonsen scored on an error in the third to make it 6-0, then River Langstraat and Simonsen each scored in the seventh to put the Lions up 8-2. The Vikings plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Kael Stapleton earned the win for Lynden, giving up two runs on five hits while striking out seven across six innings.
The Lions battered North Kitsap pitchers for 13 hits. Spencer Adams went 2 for 4 with three RBIs, Langstraat went 3 for 3 with two runs and Matthew Carroll went 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Lynden Christian
No. 13 Lynden Christian’s season came to an end with a 12-2 loss to No. 5 Tenino on Saturday in Yakima.
The Lyncs started the day with a 3-1 upset victory over No. 4 Naches Valley in their state opener, but a flurry of runs by Tenino in the quarterfinals sent Lynden Christian packing.
LC trailed the Beavers 1-0 through the first four innings, until Tenino exploded for four runs in the fifth, three more in the sixth and four in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
The Beavers battered Lyncs pitchers for 14 hits on the day. Brody Bouwman went four and two-thirds innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits and four walks while striking out three.
Bouwman and Austin Engels led LC’s offense with a pair of hits each, while Engels and Jaxon Huleatt both drove in a run. Engels and Eli Mayberry scored the two runs for LC.
Eric Trent is CDN’s news producer; reach him at erictrent@cascadiadaily.com.
