Top stars, best performances from WIAA state baseball championship weekend
Six teams were crowned WIAA state baseball champions on Saturday during the first final four weekend in three years.
Olympia beat Puyallup to win the Class 4A title, 12-seeded Mercer Island — the highest seed to win — beat Kennewick in 3A, Tumwater edged Columbia River in 2A, Bellevue Christian beat Cedar Park Christian in 1A, Brewster staged an unlikely late comeback to beat Toutle Lake in 2B and Naselle toppled Crosspoint in 1B.
Semifinals were played Friday and championships Saturday a three sites across the state. There were many standout individual performances across the two days.
Here are some performances to consider:
Lincoln Berg, Olympia
Weeks after being called up from JV, Berg had three hits, including a go-ahead two-RBI single to break a tie in a 7-6 4A state championship win over Puyallup.
Sam Boyle, Columbia River
Threw a four-hitter with eights strikeouts, leading the Rapids to a 1-0 2A state semifinal win over Ellensburg.
Adam Brooks, Puyallup
After giving up two hits in the first inning, the Northwest Nazarene commit overcame back spasms to throw five hitless innings in a complete game start as the Vikings beat Skyline 3-1 in the 4A state semifinals.
Austin Cupic, Mercer Island
Made his third consecutive complete game start in the 3A state semifinals. Struck out eight and allowed six hits, one earned run and three walks and closed the 3-1 win over West Seattle out by retiring the final two batters in the seventh inning.
Danny Dickinson, Kennewick
The Mid-Columbia Conference player of the year closed out West Seattle with two strikeouts in a 7th inning relief stint and shined as the Lions' lead-off hitter, logging the only home run of 3A/4A championship weekend – a solo shot over the left field wall — in an 8-4 loss to Mercer Island.
Ty Estes, Ellensburg
Threw a 6 1/3 inning no-hitter with five strikeouts in a 1-0 loss to Columbia River inn the 2A state semifinals.
Justin Feld, Cedar Park Christian
Recorded nine strikeouts against University Prep — including the last six batters he faced — and gave up just five hits, four earned runs and three walks on the mound and went 2-for-4 at-bat with a double to lead the Eagles past University Prep 7-6 in the 1A state semifinals.
Taber Fast, Olympia
Struck out eight in his start on the mound and threw out the tying run at home in the bottom of the seventh inning to preserve Olympia’s program-first state championship.
Kai Halstead, Puyallup
The sophomore Stanford commit hit a single, double and an RBI triple in the 4A state championship game.
Jordan Hanson, Tumwater
Threw 6 2/3 shutout innings in Tumwater’s 1-0 2A state championship win over Columbia River.
Kolton Lindstrom, Naselle
Tossed eight. Strikeouts while allowing three hits, two earned runs and four walks in six innings to lead Naselle to a 5-3 win over Crosspoint in the Class 1B state baseball championship game.
Ryan Orr, Tumwater
Struck out eight batters in a complete game start in a 6-3 win over W.F. West in the 2A state semifinals, then reached first on an infield single to drive in the winning run in a 1-0 state championship win over Columbia River
Casey Struckmeier, Columbia River
Threw a shutout 6 2/3 innings in a 1-0 2A state championship win over Tumwater.
State championship weekend baseball coverage
Lincoln Berg, Olympia
Weeks after being called up from JV, Berg had three hits, including a go-ahead two-RBI single to break a tie in a 7-6 4A state championship win over Puyallup.
Sam Boyle, Columbia River
Threw a four-hitter with eights strikeouts, leading the Rapids to a 1-0 2A state semifinal win over Ellensburg.
Austin Cupic, Mercer Island
Made his third consecutive complete game start in the 3A state semifinals. Struck out eight and allowed six hits, one earned run and three walks and closed the 3-1 win over West Seattle.
Ty Estes, Ellesnburg
Threw a 6 1/3 inning no-hitter with five strikeouts in a 1-0 loss to Columbia River in the 2A state semifinals.
Justin Feld, Cedar Park Christian
Recorded nine strikeouts against University Prep — including the last six batters he faced — and gave up just five hits, four earned runs and three walks on the mound and went 2-for-4 at-bat with a double to lead the Eagles past University Prep 7-6 in the 1A state semifinals.
Taber Fast, Olympia
Went 2-for-4 with a two-RBI double to help break open a 7-3 win over Richland in the 4A semifinals, then struck out eight in his start on the mound and threw out the tying run at home in the bottom of the seventh inning to preserve Olympia’s program-first state championship.
Miles Gosztolas, West Seattle
The Metro League MVP left a lasting mark on his five-inning 3A state semifinal start, despite the Wildcats’ 3-1 loss. He threw six strikeouts with no walks, finishing the season with 121 Ks (three more than Cy Young Award-winner Blake Snell’s 118 at Shorewood in 2011).
Kai Halstead, Puyallup
The sophomore Stanford commit hit a single, double and an RBI triple in the 4A state championship game.
Jordan Hanson, Tumwater
Threw 6 2/3 shutout innings in Tumwater’s 1-0 2A state championship win over Columbia River.
Kolton Lindstrom, Naselle
Tossed eight. Strikeouts while allowing three hits, two earned runs and four walks in six innings to lead Naselle to a 5-3 win over Crosspoint in the Class 1B state baseball championship game.
Ryan Orr, Tumwater
Struck out eight batters in a complete game start in a 6-3 win over W.F. West in the 2A state semifinals, then reached first on an infield single to drive in the winning run in a 1-0 state championship win over Columbia River
Ben Schroeder, Bellevue Christian
Took control of an offensively-minded top-ranked Cedar Park Christian team, holding it to six hits and one run in a 7-1 win in the 1A state championship game. “He’s a real control guy and never gets flustered on the mound,” Vikings coach Blane Berry said.
Casey Struckmeier, Columbia River
Threw a shutout 6 2/3 innings in a 1-0 2A state championship win over Tumwater.
AJ Woodward, Brewster
Logged a triple, a single and got the win on the mound in a 6-5 state semifinal win over Jenkins/Chewelah.
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Want to submit a noteworthy performance? Send submissions to andy@scorebooklive.com for consideration.
--Andy Buhler;@AndyBuhler.
