1A/2A WIAA state baseball semifinals: Bellevue Christian stays perfect, Boyle fuels Columbia River
YAKIMA, Wash. — The second-seeded Bellevue Christian baseball team will take its blemish-free record into Saturday’s Class 1A state championship at Yakima County Stadium fresh from a hang-on-tight semifinal victory and a couple postgame ice packs.
The Vikings (24-0) held off No. 3 Chelan for a 5-4 victory and a date in Saturday night’s championship game against top-seeded Cedar Park Christian at 7 p.m.
The Eagles needed their own heroics to top 2019 champion University Prep 7-6 after leading 5-0 in Friday night’s finale.
“I’m getting old for this,” said Bellevue Christian coach Blane Barry after the Goats scored three in their final at-bat. The Vikings needed two defensive gems – a glove-to-glove flip of the ball from pitcher to catcher for a force out at home, and a laser to the plate from left fielder Juan Gatchalian to tag the would-be tying run in a collision at home – to quell the rally.
“We’ve preached pitching and defense all year,” he said. “We got the pitching, the defense got a little shaky that last inning but it also came through with the big throw from Juan and the tag from Luke (Evenson).”
Evenson held on despite being flattened by Chelan’s Ethan Kehl. The Vikings freshman – one of four ninth-graders in BC’s starting lineup – was icing his jaw after the game.
Bellevue Christian right-handed pitcher Taylor Franklin also was sporting an ice pack after being hit with a line drive to his right wrist.
A veritable geezer for the Vikings as a junior, Franklin held Chelan hitless for 3 1/3 innings and looked to be cruising before things got hairy in the seventh. The Goats, who had just a pair of hits in the rally, were aided by a pair of Bellevue Christian errors.
The Vikings, though, righted the ship and closed the victory.
Evanson had two hits and scored a pair of runs from his leadoff spot for the Vikings, who will be playing for their first state championship.
Cash Erdman added a couple hits for BC.
“It took a lot of maturing throughout the year,” Franklin said. “We were kind of a shaky team at the beginning – we have some really good talent and we had to bring it all together.”
Austin McCardle and Quin McLaren each had two hits and a run for Chelan (21-4).
CEDAR PARK CHRISTIAN 7, UNIVERSITY PREP 6
The top-seeded Eagles nearly had their championship dreams upended by the No. 12 Pumas, who handed CPC its lone loss of the season nearly two months ago.
Cedar Park Christian (24-1) looked well on its way to another lopsided victory after taking a 5-0 lead after an inning.
Both offenses, however, stalled until the fifth when University Prep, the 2019 champions, broke through for six runs on four hits and a pair of CPC errors after being held hitless the first four innings of the game by Eagles righty Justin Feld.
The tournament favorites, though, tied the score 6-6 in the bottom of the inning and regained the lead in the sixth.
Feld shook off the fifth and struck out the final six batters he faced before leaving for the final out because of his pitch count.
He helped his cause with a pair of hits, including a double. Keller Standish had a two-run triple in the first inning and Dylan Hicks singled in two in the rally as well.
Sam Hamilton had a two-run single in the sixth for the Pumas (15-9).
CLASS 2A
COLUMBIA RIVER 1, ELLENSBURG 0
Sam Boyle tossed a four-hitter, striking out eight, and the second-seeded Rapids (21-4) edged the No. 3 Bulldogs (16-10) to advance to the Saturday’s championship game where they’ll face fourth-seeded Tumwater at 4 p.m.
Boyle, a University of Washington signee, struck out seven batters his first time through the order. Columbia River scored the lone run of the game in the top of the seventh inning on three errors and lead-off walk.
Ellensburg starting pitcher Ty Estey was nearly as effective, pitching 6 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball while striking out five.
TUMWATER 6 , W.F. WEST 3
The fourth-seeded T-birds used a four-run third inning to back a strong outing by Ryan Orr, who struck out eight while scattering three hits.
Alex Overbay, had three hits – including two doubles – and drove in two runs and scored two more for Tumwater, which totaled 12 hits. Eddie Marson also had two RBI for the Tumwater (20-6).
Ross Kelley had two hits including a double, and Gavin Fugate and Logan Moore both doubled for the Bearcats (18-8).
--Jerrel Swenning; @JSwenning.
