5/31/2025
As we come to the end of May, we are now into the thick of things for State Baseball and we will crown new state champions in just under a week.
For the 1A state baseball tournament, the defending champions Overlake/Bear Creek were just one of three teams to upset their way to the semifinals. The #5 seed Growls will be joined by #8 Bellevue Christian, #7 Charles Wright/Life Christian Academy, and #3 La Center who are in the semifinals for the first time in program history.
Below are the semifinal matchups, link to State Bracket and as the tournament rolls on we will post the most recent games and coverage at the top of the story. We will cover our games and try to find additional coverage from other media groups and link their stories and coverage to those that we find. For a complete list of the live broadcasts by Eli Sports on the NFHS Network go to our Broadcast Schedule page and links to the games and broadcasts ESN covers will be included.
Here is our tournament coverage for 1A below.
1A State Baseball Tournament
Trophy Round @ Joe Martin Field (Bellingham)
Saturday, May 31st
Charles Wright/Life Christian Academy 7, Overlake/Bear Creek 4 (Third Place)
Bellevue Christian 5, La Center 4 (Championship, Coverage Below)
Semifinals @ Joe Martin Field (Bellingham)
Friday, May 30th
La Center 3, Charles Wright/Life Christian Academy 0
Bellevue Christian 4, Overlake/Bear Creek e (11 Innings)
Regional Round
Saturday, May 24th
Camas HS Regional
Cashmere 11, Lynden Christian 6 (Nick Zeller-Singh of Cascadia Daily News)
La Center 5, Colville 4 (Meg Wochnick of The Columbian)
La Center 3, Cashmere 0 (Meg Wochnick of The Columbian)
Funko Field (Everett) Regional
Cedar Park Christian 9, Castle Rock 1
Charles Wright/Life Christian Academy 4, Royal 3
Charles Wright/Life Christian Academy 9, Cedar Park Christian 3
Olympic Stadium (Hoquiam) Regional
Overlake/Bear Creek 5, King’s Way Christian 3
Montesano 9, King’s 8
Overlake/Bear Creek 6, Montesano 5
RORC (Ridgefield) Regional
Bellevue Christian 10, Chelan 0
Seton Catholic 10, Zillah 0 (Will Denner of The Columbian)
Bellevue Christian 10, Seton Catholic 0 (Will Denner of The Columbian)
Title Game Recap
Bellevue Christian 5, La Center 4
(Bellingham, WA) For the first time in program history, the La Center Wildcats made it to the 1A state championship game. Their opponents would be a team that continues to be right in the mix in 1A baseball in the 2022 state champions, the Bellevue Christian Vikings. Ironically enough, neither team won their league championship this season but both would enter Saturday just one win away from a state championship.
Their wins in the semifinals could not have been more different. For La Center, they began the weekend with a 3-0 shutout win over Charles Wright Academy/Life Christian Academy in which the Wildcats controlled the entirety of the game. For Bellevue Christian, they saw a 2-0 lead over defending champions Overlake/Bear Creek disappear before surviving an 11-inning thriller, burning two pitchers in the process. Both teams would take the field with complete confidence that they would be walking away as champions.
Luke Evenson began the game drawing a walk against La Center starter Gunnar Schockelt. Evenson would then steal second to get himself into scoring position. Schockelt bounced back to strikeout both Mason Hill and Cash Erdman to keep Evenson at second with two outs. After Declan Englund walked, an error on a grounder by Jack Vlahovich allowed the first run of the game to score. Schockelt would minimize the damage but the error gave Bellevue Christian the 1-0 lead.
That lead didn’t last for long as La Center answered in the bottom of the 1st. A leadoff triple by Houston Coyle was exactly what the Wildcats needed to get going. Caden Taylor would bring home Coyle with a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game 1-1. A hit batter looked as if La Center would continue to build something in the 1st, but Luke Evenson threw out Justin Fuller trying to steal to prevent the inning from getting any bigger for La Center.
Once again, Luke Evenson started a rally in the 3rd for the Vikings. A single by the Bellevue Christian catcher was followed by a single for starting pitcher Mason Hill. With one out and runners on first and second, Declan Englund sent a grounder to second for what could have been a double play. La Center cutdown Hill at second but the throw to first was low and couldn’t be picked. Evenson ran the whole time and ended up scoring to capitalize. Just like that, Bellevue Christian regained the lead 2-1.
Gunnar Schockelt stranded a one-out double in the 4th and his day was done after allowing two runs on three hits in four innings of work. La Center would turn to Austin Aseph in the 5th but he couldn’t figure out Luke Evenson either as the catcher singled for his second hit of the game. A walk to Mason Hill got Aseph in some trouble but he settled in with a strikeout of Cash Erdman, but the third strike got away from the catcher, allowing the runners to move up to second and third. A passed ball then allowed Evenson to score to make it 3-1. Englund would walk and stole second but a pop up would leave the two runners in scoring position with two outs. Another error would really hurt La Center as two more runs would come home and Bellevue Christian’s lead grew to 5-1.
In a big inning for La Center, they gained some positive momentum in the bottom of the 5th as they got a run back on an error to set the table for a big 6th inning. Down 5-2, La Center loaded the bases with no outs with a Gunnar Schockelt walk, Wyatt Brannan hit by pitch, and a single by Brady Brandenburg. That saw Luke Evenson in some serious trouble as he came in to pitch after the Brannan hit by pitch. He would get Wyatt Eiesland to strikeout for the first out but then hit Will Anderson to make it 5-3 with the bases still loaded. Another strikeout of Blake Willis gave Evenson a chance to escape with no more damage, but Houston Coyle would draw a walk to bring in another run. With their 5-4 lead in serious jeopardy with the bases still loaded, Bellevue Christian needed someone to make a plat. A liner to left by Caden Taylor would be flagged down by Noah Chong to escape the jam. La Center would make this one very interesting though as they trailed just 5-4 late.
A 1-2-3 top of the 7th spun by Austin Aseph set the table for the bottom of the 7th. Luke Evenson stayed on to pitch and got two quick outs on a flyout to right and a strikeout. However, La Center put the tying run on base with a two-out walk by Wyatt Brannan. Brady Brandenburg then came to the plate looking to start a late two-out rally. However, a fly ball to center would be hauled in by Cash Erdman to seal this one away. Bellevue Christian was able to celebrate as they won their second state title in the last four years, taking down La Center 5-4.
Our Thorbeckes Player of the Game went to Luke Evenson of Bellevue Christian. After starting the game behind the plate, Evenson would then come in and pitch the last two innings, recording the final six outs of the Vikings championship win with three coming via strikeouts. At the plate, Evenson went 2-3 with a couple of singles and a walk and scored each time he reached base. Add into how he managed the game behind the plate when Mason Hill was on the mound and the senior ran away with the award in this one.
After winning the state title in 2022, Bellevue Christian failed to make it out of regionals the last two seasons, including falling as the #1 seed last year. This year the Vikings had a chip on their shoulder coming in as the #8 seed. This team showed that they weren’t a #8 seed during regionals with 10-0 wins over #9 Chelan and #1 Seton Catholic. Bellevue Christian’s run was almost ended in the semifinals when they survived an 11-inning thriller over defending champions Overlake/Bear Creek where the Growls had the winning run on third before the Vikings escaped trouble. It is Bellevue Christian’s second state title in program history.
For the first time ever, the La Center Wildcats not only made it to the state semifinals but also played for a state championship. The Wildcats really started making a move late and just ran out of time after cutting the deficit to one. Instead of checking out when they fell behind 5-1, La Center rallied and made the Vikings sweat it out down the stretch. La Center showed off incredible heart and they should all be extremely proud of the history that they made in their community.
ESN Postgame Show
Highlights
Coyle Leadoff Triple
Bellevue Christian Escapes Bases Loaded Jam
Final Out for Bellevue Christian’s Championship
www.elisportsnetwork.com
