5/11/25

Liberty (Renton) Patriots –  5/10/3
Bellevue Wolverines –           10/10/2

(Bellevue, WA) The three-seeded Liberty Patriots came into the game off a win on Wednesday, while the Bellevue Wolverines had the bye into the Semifinals by being the two-seed. Bellevue watched Liberty win on a walk-off single in the KingCo Quarterfinals to advance to the Semifinals. The Semifinals aren’t loser-out games, but a win makes the path to State much easier.

The offenses flexed their muscles early and often in the first KingCo Semifinal. Sam Bell led the game off with a single and was driven home by Connor Mayer to give Liberty a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Bellevue responded in a big way, as the first six Wolverines who stepped up to the plate reached base safely, and the first five made it to at least second base. Dylan Leaird led off the bottom of the first with a single. Max Brender came in to run for Leaird, who was shaken up sliding into first but came back into the game in the bottom of the second. Brody Gayte knocked in the first Bellevue run with a single and scored later in the inning to make it 2-1 Bellevue after the first.

Liberty tied it up in the top of the second, as Trevor Snow drew a walk and the courtesy runner came around to score to make it 2-2. With two outs, Dylan Leaird returned to the game and got hit by a pitch, and Greyson Arnold got on with an error, which scored Leaird to put Bellevue back in front with a 3-2 lead. The Patriots started the top of the third inning with back-to-back doubles, the first from Ryan Boehm and the second from Connor Mayer, which was an RBI double to tie the game at three apiece. Bellevue once again had an answer for Liberty, as Jackson Rankin got on with a single, then Ellis Oeltjen drove him in with an RBI double. Oeltjen scored as Brandon Powell grounded out, but made it a 5-3 lead through three innings for Bellevue.

The fourth inning was the only full scoreless inning of the game, but both teams still had runners in scoring position. Liberty had another runner in scoring position in the top of the fifth but couldn’t score. Bellevue responded with the biggest inning of the game, which started with an Ellis Oeltjen single. He eventually scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Jessie Gonzalez. Eli Auten had a single before Dylan Leaird cleared the bases with a 2-RBI triple to make it 8-3 and a three-run fifth for the Wolverines.

Caleb Chin led the sixth inning off with a double for Liberty, and he scored on a Jackson Bell RBI single. Bell scored on an error, and with two outs, Liberty trimmed the deficit down to three but couldn’t score more in the top of the sixth. Bellevue once again responded in the bottom of the inning, as Ellis Oeltjen got on with a walk and tried to steal third, the throw went wide and he scored to make it 9-5. Andrew Van Appledorn scored on a Brandon Powell RBI single to make it 10-5 through six innings. Dylan Leaird came in to pitch in the seventh inning and got a pair of strikeouts to close out the win for Bellevue.

With Bellevue’s 10-5 win, the Wolverines advance to the KingCo 3A Championship Game at 7 PM on Tuesday, a game that will be on the Eli Sports Network. Liberty heads to the consolation bracket, where they will play in a loser out game on Tuesday at 4 PM, also on the Eli Sports Network.

Our Thorbeckes Game MVP was another tough call, but ultimately it went to Dylan Leaird. After getting hurt in the first inning, coming back and getting hit by a pitch, then getting a 2 RBI triple, while making a few catches in the outfield, and closing things out with a pair of strikeouts on the mound, gave him the nod for Game MVP honors. His performance shows exactly what it takes to be successful in the postseason.

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Game Highlights

Bellevue’s Dylan Leaird With 2 RBI Triple

Bellevue’s Ellis Oeltjen With RBI Double

Liberty’s Jackson Bell Throws Out Runner At The Plate

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