County to host 4A state regional tournament games
Clark County high school baseball was so good last week, organizers of one tournament had to change the location of a championship game.
Two Clark County teams in the Class 2A District 4 championship game? Gotta move that game from Centralia to Vancouver.
Well, the area is not yet done hosting high school baseball.
The Camas Papermakers won the Class 4A bi-district tournament, and with the No. 1 seed from the biggest feeder into the state tournament, Camas gets to play its state regionals in – you guessed it – Clark County.
Tahoma and Monroe will play each other at Propstra Stadium at 10 a.m. Saturday, and then Camas will take on Issaquah. The two winners will face each other at approximately 4 p.m. Saturday’s survivor will advance to the final four.
Propstra Stadium got a taste of big-moment baseball Friday when Ridgefield and Columbia River battled for the district crown. Ridgefield won this battle. Both teams are going to state, as well.
Over the weekend, we had more baseball, soccer, track and field, and tennis. Four teams from Clark County, by the way, will open state soccer play this week. One of those teams will be Mountain View, which survived a winner-to-state, loser-out match against league rival Prairie at McKenzie Stadium on Saturday.
Also this week, softball begins district and bi-district play.
Here are some of the highlights from a big weekend.
Baseball
Class 2A
Kellen Bringhurst pitched into the sixth inning for the win, then Josh Mansur came in for the save as the Ridgefield Spudders took down Columbia River 4-2 in the district championship game at Propstra.
Jimmy Wallace had two hits and his team’s lone RBI to pace the offense. The Spudders scored two runs on two balks.
Bringhurst struck out six. Mansur struck out three in his 1.1 innings of relief.
As the top seed, Ridgefield gets to play relatively close to home in the state regionals. The Spudders will play White River at 1 p.m. Saturday in Centralia.
Columbia River, the 2A Greater St. Helens League champion, will travel to Auburn for its state regional. The Chieftains will take on West Valley at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Woodland, meanwhile, lost in the district’s consolation semifinals and did not qualify for state.
http://wiaa.com/ardisplay.aspx?ID=1823
Class 4A
Camas, which had already clinched a berth to state going into the weekend, won two more games to claim the bi-district title.
Skyview, meanwhile, had two games Saturday as well and had to win one to make it to state. The Storm left no doubt, winning both games.
Camas beat Federal Way in the early game Saturday then took down Puyallup 10-6 in the title game. Tyler Forner hit a home run and drove in four runs in the championship.
See introduction to this story for Camas’ plans this coming weekend.
As for Skyview, the Storm made it to state with a 5-2 win over Kentlake in the early game Saturday. Ryan Pitts drove in two runs and got the save. Lowell Dunmire got the win on the mound. Noah Guyette drove in five runs and Pitts had three hits and drove in three runs in the nightcap, an 11-3 win over Olympia.
Skyview will travel to Puyallup for a 4A state regional game and will take on Inglemoor at 10 a.m.
http://wiaa.com/ardisplay.aspx?ID=1825
Class 3A
Mountain View had clinched a spot to the 3A state tournament the previous Saturday. The Thunder returned to the field and ended up finishing second in the bi-district. They beat Timberline 5-1 in the semifinals but fell to Gig Harbor 8-3 in the finals.
Andrew Seldon threw a complete game in the semifinals and also drove in three runs.
Mountain View will travel to Bellevue for its 3A state regional site. The Thunder play Edmonds-Woodway at 10 a.m. Saturday.
http://wiaa.com/ardisplay.aspx?ID=1824
Class 1A
La Center beat King’s Way Christian in a consolation semifinal on Friday, but Columbia-White Salmon took down La Center 4-2 on Saturday to end La Center’s season.
Soccer
Class 3A
Clark County had the rare case in Class 3A soccer of having two teams from the GSHL face each other for the final berth to state from the bi-district. Mountain View got the job done Saturday against Prairie at McKenzie Stadium.
Mountain View got an early second-half goal from Nathan Purvis, and goalkeeper Cole Taylor made several highlight-worthy saves, including one in the final 10 minutes of the match, to preserve the lead in a 1-0 win.
“I had to think about angles and how to cut him off,” Taylor said of that last big save. “I set my feet, then reacted as quick as I could. It ended up working out.”
Oh it worked out alright. Worked out for Mountain View going to the state tournament. Or should we call it the bi-state tournament?
Mountain View will play in Oregon for its first-round Washington Interscholastic Activities Association playoff match. Yes, the Thunder drew Hermiston, an Oregon school that is part of the WIAA. (Time and place of that match have not been finalized as of 9 a.m. Monday.)
The Thunder don’t care where. They just know they are among the final 16.
“This is what we’ve been working for,” Taylor said. “After winning league this year, this is the next step for us. This team has such great chemistry. Feels really good.”
Still, when the final whistle sounded, the celebration on the field was subdued.
Mountain View coach Dustin Johnson said the Thunder were trying to show respect to the Falcons, who battled all season. He called it a friendly rivalry. The Thunder displayed plenty of excitement in the locker room, the coach said, but on the field it was about sportsmanship first.
The two teams played each other three times this season, with Mountain View winning two 1-0 matches and the third match was tied.
“Hat’s off to Prairie. Great season and a great postseason as well,” Johnson said.
http://wiaa.com/ardisplay.aspx?ID=1828
Class 2A
Ridgefield’s season came to an end in the 2A District 4 consolation final. Aberdeen got the Spudders 2-1.
Earlier last week, Columbia River beat Woodland in the district title game. Both teams are going to state.
Columbia River will host Foss in a first-round match Tuesday of Wednesday. (As of 9 a.m. Monday that was not finalized.)
Woodland is traveling to Port Angeles to take on Sequim at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
http://wiaa.com/ardisplay.aspx?ID=1827
Class 1A
The Seton Catholic Cougars survived the consolation bracket, taking down Columbia-White Salmon 2-0 on Saturday to earn a trip to the state tournament. Seton Catholic will be on the road to face King’s High School at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
http://wiaa.com/ardisplay.aspx?ID=1826
Tennis
Leilani Gonzales of Skyview won the 4A district singles title in girls tennis. Nicole Knudtson and Miriam Muntean won the doubles title. In 3A, it was all Mountain View. Shreya Bhatra won the singles title and Anna Lu and Grace Garmire teamed up for the doubles title.
Coming up
In the next week, 4A and 3A individuals sports athletes will go to bi-district events to determine state berths in golf, tennis, and track and field. For 2A and 1A athletes, they will go to district events to determine state berths.
Clark County Today hopes to list every state entrant next week prior to state championship week.
Softball
Congratulations to Battle Ground (4A GSHL), Mountain View (3A GSHL), and Woodland (2A GSHL) for their league titles in softball. The postseason begins for softball later this week.
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