5/8/25

Interlake Saints –                    7/10/0
Liberty (Renton) Patriots – 8/13/2

(Bellevue, WA) Playoff baseball is upon us. The KingCo 3A Quarterfinals took place, with the six-seed Interlake Saints taking on the three-seed Liberty (Renton) Patriots. This is a loser out game with the winner facing the two-seed Bellevue on Saturday at 4 PM.

Interlake, being the lower seed, batted first, and they used small ball to get players on the basepaths. Sam Haufe, Alex Diaz, and Wyatt Tang all got on, and Haufe and Diaz scored on errors to give Interlake a 2-0 lead. Liberty’s Connor Mayer did a good job getting a strikeout and forced a flyout to end Interlake’s half of the inning, as the Saints were looking for more. Liberty bounced back in their half of the first, with five of their six batters reaching base safely in the inning. Parker Heeter clobbered a pitch into left field that one-hopped the fence to tie the game, to score Jackson Bell and Ryan Boehm, and tie the game. Connor Mayer scored on a fielder’s choice when Trevor Snow grounded out. Liberty led 3-2 after the first inning.

Liberty added to their lead in the second inning, when Lukas Fluegge led off with a double, stole a base, and was driven in by Colton Hollerback on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2 after the second inning. In the third inning, Interlake had base runners in scoring position again, but the Patriots got out of the jam without surrendering a run, while scoring in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Boehm scored again after singling in the inning, and was driven in by Trevor Snow on a flyout to right field. Liberty took a 4-2 lead through three innings.

The fourth inning was the first and only scoreless inning of the contest, as Liberty would send eight batters up in the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Boehm singled and stole two bases to open up the frame, Connor Mayer singled as well, and both players scored to make it 7-2. Liberty loaded the bases with one out, but Interlake got out of the jam trailing by five runs.

Interlake’s Zachary Diaz came into the game off the bench and took his first at-bat in the sixth inning, getting on with a single. After an out, Alex Diaz singled with two outs to get a pair of runners on for the Saints. Wyatt Tang drove them both in with a two-RBI double to keep the inning alive and cut into the Liberty lead. Brady Didrickson followed up with an RBI double of his own, scoring Tang, and the Saints scored three runs with two outs to make it a 7-5 ballgame. Interlake followed up their great offense with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth defensively, to head to the seventh trailing by just two runs.

Interlake’s Devin Wallace and Ty Marcum each drew a walk before Connor Cooper moved them both over with a bunt. After a strikeout, Sam Haufe was back at the plate with two outs. Haufe was down to his final strike to keep the season going, and delivered with a two-RBI double to tie the game at seven. Liberty got a strikeout to end the inning, but they went to the bottom of the seventh after Interlake scored five runs in a row.

In the bottom of the seventh, Trevor Snow got a double, Griffin Ellsworth was hit by a pitch, and Caleb Chin drew a walk to load up the bases with one out. Liberty’s Colton Hollerbach had the game on his bat, and the sophomore delivered when his team needed it most. Hollerbach crushed a single to right field that scored the game-winning run, walking it off for the Patriots to win the game and advance to the KingCo Semifinals by a score of 8-7.

Liberty improves to 9-13 on the season and will face Bellevue in the KingCo Semifinals on Saturday at 4 PM, a game that will be on the Eli Sports Network. Interlake drops to 15-7 as their season comes to a close.

Our Thorbeckes Game MVP was a tough decision as there were at least half a dozen players who made a big impact on the game, but ultimately it went to Liberty’s Ryan Boehm. Boehm singled twice, drew a walk, stole three bases, scored three runs, had three strikeouts pitching, and kept Interlake out of the lead with clutch pitching by getting timely outs.

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Game Highlights

Colton Hollerbach’s Walk-Off Single

Sam Haufe’s Two-Out Double

Parker Heeter Blasts A Ground Rule Double

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