5/18/26
The Eli Sports Network will be covering the 3A State Baseball Tournament in this blog. For coverage of the 4A, 2A, 1A, 2B, or 1B, they are on separate blog posts. The top of the blog has all of the scores from the 3A State Tournament, with written recaps of the two Semifinal games and the State Championship Game, which include some highlights.
Opening Round
Tuesday, May 19
#19 White River 2, #14 Liberty (Renton) 7
#18 Enumclaw 0, #15 Monroe 1
#20 Central Valley 1, #13 Shorewood 9
#17 Eastside Catholic 6, #16 Kelso 3 (8 Innings) (Coverage Below)
Round 2
Saturday, May 23
#11 Southridge vs #6 Kentlake – 1:00 PM (@ Lincoln HS, Tacoma)
#14 Liberty (Renton) vs #3 Gig Harbor – 10:00 AM (@ Lincoln HS, Tacoma)
#10 Mountain View vs #7 O’Dea – 1:00 PM (@ Kennewick HS)
#15 Monroe vs #2 Kennewick – 10:00 AM (@ Kennewick HS)
#12 Peninsula vs #5 Snohomish – 10:00 AM (@ Auburn HS)
#13 Shorewood vs #4 Decatur – 1:00 PM (@ Auburn HS)
#9 Roosevelt vs #8 Mercer Island – 10:00 AM (@ Mount Vernon HS)
#17 Eastside Catholic vs #1 Mount Vernon – 1:00 PM (@ Mount Vernon HS)
Quarterfinals
Saturday, May 23
TBD vs TBD (@ Lincoln HS, Tacoma)
TBD vs TBD (@ Kennewick HS)
TBD vs TBD (@ Auburn HS)
TBD vs TBD (@ Mount Vernon HS)
Semifinals (Funko Field – Everett)
Friday, May 29
TBD vs TBD – 4:00 PM
TBD vs TBD – 7:00 PM
Third Place Game (Funko Field – Everett)
Saturday, May 30
TBD vs TBD – 1:00 PM
Championship Game (Funko Field – Everett)
TBD vs TBD – 7:00 PM
Game Coverage
Eastside Catholic 6, Kelso 3 (8 Innings)
(Kelso, WA) State baseball playoffs began on Tuesday as four first round games in the 3A tournament took place. With the 20-team tournament, eight 3A teams got in the action early and at Rister Stadium in Kelso, the Hilanders would look to defend their home turf against Eastside Catholic. After upsetting their way into the quarterfinals last season, the Crusaders looked to utilize strong pitching to replicate that success on Tuesday. Kelso would return to state tournament action for the first time since 2024 and would look to setup a rematch with the team that knocked them out that spring in Mount Vernon.
Bryce Collins pitched around a one-out double by Tyler Long in the top of the 1st and then was the first Hilander to reach base with a leadoff walk against Jack Champion. The lefty tried to pickoff the courtesy runner in Tyen Lee at first, but a bad throw saw Lee go first to third with nobody out. Champion would settle in but Adam Swanson cashed in early with an RBI single to give Kelso the 1-0 lead.
The Ole Miss commit settled in and Bryce Collins rolled in the 2nd with a couple of strikeouts in a 1-2-3 2nd inning. In the bottom of the 2nd, a leadoff walk by Miles Franett saw Kenny Doble come in and run for him. Sosefa Logotaeao got down a sacrifice bunt to move Doble to second with on out. Jack Champion then got Carter Huntley to popout to Tyler Long at second base for a big second out. The lineup card turned over to Bryce Collins and the senior helped himself out with a base hit to center. Doble would be waved home and the throw from Kobe Reese in center bounced off the mound which allowed him to score without a play to make it 2-0.
Collins and Champion spun scoreless innings in the 3rd and after seeing his 9 consecutive batters retired streak end with a single by Kobe Reese, Collins retired the next two to keep the shutout alive. In the bottom of the 4th, Carter Huntley reached with one out on an error and that error hurt Eastside Catholic bad. Bryce Collins sent a double to the wall in center to score Huntley to extend Kelso’s lead to 3-0.
Eastside Catholic had a chance to score in the 5th, but stranded runners at second and third. Jack Champion had his first 1-2-3 inning in the 5th and the Crusaders built on that momentum in the 6th. A double with one out by Kobe Reese put a man on and Hudson Schock got Eastside Catholic on the board with an RBI single, making it 3-1. Schock moved to second on a groundout by Gavin Bodde but with two outs Eastside Catholic needed a clutch hit. That is exactly what they got as Kai Jamber sent a triple into the right field corner to bring home Schock and make it 3-2 with the tying run at third. Collins would preserve the lead as Gio Iraola grounded out to third to end the inning.
With a brand new ballgame, Eastside Catholic got a big double play as Jay Baxter came on in relief of Champion and kept it a one-run game into the 7th. Adam Swanson was on to try to close things out in the 7th for Kelso but gave up a leadoff single to Josh Connelly-Smith. Xavier Padilla ran for Connelly-Smith but stayed at first after River Shute struck out. A grounder by Ryan Long moved Padilla to second but the Crusaders were down to their final out. A soft grounder by Tyler Long looked like it might end the game but the ball got under the second baseman’s glove. Padilla never stopped running and scored despite the ball not leaving the infield. All of a sudden, Eastside Catholic had tied the game up at 3-3.
Jay Baxter stayed on the mound for the bottom of the 7th and got in some serious trouble. Bryce Collins led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Westyn Bell. With the winning run on third and one out, Eastside Catholic elected to intentionally walk Blake Larwick and Adam Swansonto load the bases and create a force out at the plate. The force out wasn’t needed however as Baxter dug deep and struck out Trey Snow and Brady Snaza to strand the bases loaded and send this playoff game to extra innings.
In the 8th, Eastside Catholic pulled away. Hudson Schock was hit by an 0-2 pitch and advanced after Gavin Bodde singled. Adam Swanson got Kai Jamber to groundout to Bryce Collins at first while keeping the runners at second and third. Then the Crusaders rolled the dice. Schock broke for home on the first pitch to Gio Iraola but the shortstop did his part. The squeeze play worked to perfection as Schock scored while Iraola was thrown out for the second out. With Eastside Catholic up 4-3, the Crusaders added on with two outs on an RBI triple by Xavier Padilla and a wild pitch. With a 6-3 lead, Eastside Catholic closed things out as a two-out single by Carter Huntley was stranded in the home half. Six unanswered runs saw Eastside Catholic complete the comeback with a 6-3 win over Kelso in 8 innings.
Our Sumner Holiday Inn Express MVP of the game went to Jay Baxter for Eastside Catholic. The senior took over on the mound in the 6th and got a double play to escape trouble and rolled after that. Baxter also escaped a bases loaded jam with one out in the 7th to avoid letting the winning run score. He went 2 2/3 scoreless innings with just two hits allowed and two walks with six strikeouts. He was dominant out of the bullpen to allow the Crusaders offense to complete the comeback.
With the win, Eastside Catholic keeps their season alive and advance to take on the defending 3A state champions and #1 seed in Mount Vernon on Saturday at 1pm, joining the regional that includes Roosevelt and Mercer Island as well. Kelso has their season come to an end with a record of 14-9 in their first trip to state since 2024.
Notable Performances
Eastside Catholic
- Xavier Padilla- 1-2, 3B, RBI, 2 R, BB
- Hudson Schock- 1-3, RBI, 2 R, SB, HBP
- Jay Baxter- 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
- Jack Champion- 5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
Kelso
- Bryce Collins- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO, 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB
- Adam Swanson- 2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1-3, RBI, BB
- Blake Larwick- 1-3, BB
Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)
ESN Postgame Show
Highlights
Collins RBI Double
Jamber RBI Triple
Eastside Catholic Squeeze Play in 8th
www.elisportsnetwork.com
