5/20/18
The WIAA State Baseball Final 4’s have been set and there are still 2 defending Champions in the Tourney looking to defend their titles and both will be in Yakima at County Stadium. Ellensburg and King’s Way Christian are both back to take another shot at the big trophy. Below is a short preview of each classification along with a link to each bracket, the WIAA Tournament Central and the ESN/NFHS Sports Network link to the live subscription TV broadcast menu.
Link to WIAA Tournament Central
4A State Tournament at Pasco’s Gesa Stadium
The 4A State Final 4 only has one returning team from last year’s final and that is Skyview who took home 3rd place. 4A tournament will have the early games this season with Richland facing Federal Way at 10am. The Eagles advanced with a stunning Regional final upset win over the defending Champion Puyallup Vikings denying the Viks at a chance for back to back titles. Richland cruised through their Regional with a 10-0 win over Tahoma and a 6-2 win over Todd Beamer.
In the other bracket is where you’ll find the lone returning team Skyview who beat Inglemoor 8-0 and Jackson 2-1 to get back to the final 4. Skyview faces Wenatchee at 1pm on Friday in the Semi-Finals. Wenatchee ground out wins over Chiawana 3-0 and Moses Lake 8-5 to advance.
The 3rd place game on Saturday will start at 10am and the 4A Championship at 4pm.
3A State Tournament at Pasco’s Gesa Stadium
Two teams are back for another crack at the top trophy in the 3A bracket with the runners-up Southridge and 4th place finisher Edmonds-Woodway still playing. The 1st Semi-Final on Friday is at 4p with Edmonds-Woodway facing Kelso. Although Kelso was not in the final 4 last year they are coming in off a huge regional run including knocking off the defending champion Gig Harbor Tides 7-4 and then blanking O’Dea in the Regional Championship game 9-0. Edmonds-Woodway showed their post-season experience by knocking out Mercer Island 6-3 and then Capital in the Regional final 11-6.
The 2nd Semi-Final will pit last year’s 2nd place team Southridge against Eastside Catholic in the nightcap at 7p. Southridge was challenged by Shelton in their regional opener winning 3-1 but then rolled over Kennewick 8-3. The Suns will face newcomer EC who advanced with a tight 6-5 win over Arlington in their Regional opener and then beat Bonney Lake in a run-away 12-1 to advance to Pasco.
The 3rd place game on Saturday will begin at 1p and the Championship at 7p.
2A State Tournament at Yakima’s County Stadium
The 2A tournament is where you’ll find our first defending Champion in the Ellensburg Bulldogs. Ellensburg held off a pesky Fife team with a 7-5 win to advance to the Regional final. The Bulldogs then unloaded on Sehome cruising to a 14-1 win and back to Yakima.
The Bulldogs will not get a newbie to say the least in their Semi-Final where they will get the WF West Bearcats. This is the team Ellensburg faced for the Championship last year and knocked off the Bearcats 5-1 for the big trophy. The Bearcats advanced back to Yakima with an opening round Regional win over a tough minded Ephrata team 5-2 and then eliminated North Kitsap 8-6 in the finals. These teams also met in 2015 and the Bulldogs won in the Regionals 4-2. But WF West has State Titles in 2013, 2010 and 2009 along with 2 other 3rd place finishes and last year’s 2nd place finish over the past 9 seasons. The re-match will kick-off the action in Yakima as the 10am game.
The 2 newcomers will meet in the other Semi-Final guaranteeing new blood in the Championship game. Mountlake Terrace advanced with a 5-2 win over Port Angeles and then a 3-0 win over Highline. Terrace will face West Valley of Spokane who made it to the final 4 with an opening Regional win over Steilacoom 4-1 and then holding off Liberty of Issaquah 4-3. The 2nd Semi-Final game will start at 1p.
The 3rd place game on Saturday will start at 10am and the 2A Championship at 4pm.
1A State Tournament at Yakima’s County Stadium
In the 1A tournament not only are the top 2 teams back but all 4 are making a return appearance. King’s Way Christian defeated Cedar Park Christian for the title 5-3 while Freeman knocked off Cashmere by the same 5-3 score. You could not have planned the way the bracket ended up more perfectly if indeed all 4 teams were coming back. In game 1, the 1st and 4th place teams from last year will meet at 4pm. King’s Way Christian made it back with Regional wins over Meridian 1-0 and La Center 4-0. Cashmere took out Naches Valley 7-3 and then blanked Connell in the final 5-0.
The nightcap at 7p has last year’s 2nd and 3rd place teams facing off in the Semi’s Cedar Park Christian vs Freeman. CPC earned their trip back with a 12-2 win over Charles Wright and a 7-2 win over Montesano. The Scotties of Freeman 10-runned Kiona-Benton 10-0 and slipped past College Place 7-6 in the Regional finale.
The 3rd place game on Saturday will begin at 1p and the Championship at 7p.
2B State Tournament at Centralia’s Wheeler Stadium
At the 2B tournament in Centralia 3 newbies will join Tri Cities Prep in this year’s final four. Tri Cities Prep got revenge on last year’s Champion Colfax with a 5-1 win in the Regional final TCP advanced to that showdown with a 12-1 blow out over Liberty Bell in the Regional opener. TCP will face Kalama at 4p on Friday. The Nooks advanced with a 7-0 win over Crosspoint and then a stunning win over favored Wahkiakum 5-3.
In the lower half of the bracket, Adna takes on Brewster at 7p. The Pirates earned their way to the final weekend of High School sports with an opening Regional win over Ocosta 4-0 and then the Regional Championship 4-1 over the Rainier Mounties. Brewster picked off St George’s 5-3 and shut out Asotin 4-0 in the finals.
The 3rd place game on Saturday will be played at 10a and the Championship at 1p.
1B State Tournament at Centralia’s Wheeler Stadium
The 1B Tournament is only the State Championship game on Saturday and there is a returning team from last year. Almira-Coulee-Hartline got their revenge over Pomeroy with a 2-0 shut out win in the Semi-Final enying Pomeroy a chance to repeat. ACH defeated Sunnyside Christian in the quarterfinals to open the tournament. ACH is hoping to finish the job this year after falling shortin the finals last year and will face Colton.
Colton opened the tournament with a 9-6 win over Naselle eliminating the Comtes. Colton then held on to eliminate Evergreen Lutheran 2-1 to get to the Championship game. The 1B Title Game will get started at 4p on Saturday.