Eastlake baseball books trip to WIAA Class 4A semifinals for first time in program history

SAMMAMISH, Wash. - Eastlake coach Frank Smith said two players on his team have been the main driving force behind the team’s success this season.

That didn’t change Saturday with seniors Bryce Johnson and Dylan Skolfield leading the way on the mound in two wins for the Wolves that put Eastlake in the Class 4A semifinals for the first time in school history.

Johnson pitched in the first game - a 4-1 win for Eastlake over Rogers of Puyallup to move on to the state quarterfinals.

Up next was Skolfield, who mowed down Kamiakin hitters at will in a 5-0 complete game victory.

“(Kamiakin) didn’t hit a ball well all game and (Skolfield) has been that way all year,” Smith said. “Bryce (Johnson) gets a lot of the accolades and Dylan has worked just as hard and really jumped on the scene.”

For Skolfield, it was a bounce back win of sorts, having pitched in the same game a year ago against eventual state runner-up Puyallup.

The Vikings roughed up Skolfield for four runs in the first inning which proved to be enough to derail the Wolves’ season.

“He’s grown up a lot since then and this was the showcase of that maturity,” Smith said of Skolfield.

Skolfield admitted he was a little nervous before the game because of last year, but any nerves vanished nearly immediately once the game got going.

“I was able to get it done and I’m just so thankful for my team,” Skolfield said.

The Wolves’ offense wasted no time getting some run support for Skolfield, pushing a run across in the bottom of the first on a RBI double from catcher Jack Edmunds.

Eastlake outfielder Tyler Griffin’s RBI triple and Grady Woodward’s RBI groundout stretched the Wolves’ lead to 3-0 in the second.

Rounding out the scoring for Wolves was Cole Murawski with a sacrifice fly and single in the third and fourth innings.

With a top ranking following all season, Eastlake has had a target on its back from the get go.

“Playing with a target and playing with expectations is a lot of pressure and it’s something that, fortunately, we’ve done really good with all year,” Smith said. “We’ve been able to respond to it. This group has Sammamish addresses, but they are blue collar. They bring that lunch pail to work and they grind and grind.”

Eastlake will play fifth-seeded Tahoma in the Class 4A semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Funko Field in Everett.