State baseball semis to match No. 2 Shorewood and No. 1 Camas

The State 3A semifinal baseball game between Shorewood and Camas will match the State’s top two 3A teams.

The Seattle Times ranked Camas No, 1 and Shorewood No. 2 going into regional play Saturday, May 21.

Jeremy Edwards slides into third base in a close play in the fifth inning.
SW vs West Seattle. Photo by Wayne Pridemore.

Seattle defeated West Seattle. 3-0, in the opening-round game Saturday, and topped Seattle Prep, 5-3, in the second game of the day,

The Shorewood-Camas game will be followed by another semifinal game between No. 5 ranked Mount Si and No. 9 ranked Kamiakin of Kennewick).

SW vs Seattle Prep. Shorewood's Ben Andrews is safe at second base in second inning action.
Photo by Wayne Pridemore.

Our news partner, the Seattle Times, said this about the regional final games:

“Seattle Prep continued to create chances, just flike the Panthers have done for most of the last month in winning eight consecutive games — all but one by two runs or less.”

“But No. 2 Shorewood was having none of it in the Class 3A regional final Saturday at Skagit Valley College. The Thunderbirds rebuffed three comeback attempts and edged the Panthers 5-3 to advance to the state semifinals. Shorewood (22-2) will play Camas at 10 a.m. Friday at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.

“It is the second consecutive semifinal appearance for Shorewood, which has not lost to a 3A team this season. The Thunderbirds' only losses came early in the season to 4A Edmonds-Woodway and Lake Stevens.”

The Times quoted Shorewood coach Wyatt Tonkin as saying:

"We came so close last year, We were right there, banging on the door. The next step is to go ahead and kick the door in."

"I felt confident about it," Snell said of the situation. "It gives me more of a purpose to get a hit when that (Mitsui is walked) happens."

The Times added this:

“Shorewood scored single runs in each of the first two innings for a 2-0 lead. Jamie Hall cut the lead in half for No. 9 Seattle Prep (17-6) with a solo homer in the fourth.

“But the Thunderbirds answered. Jeremy Edwards singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth and was sacrificed to second. After Trevor Mitsui was walked for the third time (and second time intentionally), Blake Snell singled hard up the middle to score Edwards.”

The Times said this about the first regional game:

“Blake Snell pitched six no-hit innings before Jeff Freeman's solid single to right-center in the seventh for the Wildcats (16-9). Snell eventually loaded the bases before fanning pinch-hitter Tim Adams and pitching counterpart Sam Hellinger to end it.”

Read the rest of the Times story here:

The Times said this about the about the Camas game:

“For the second consecutive year, the O'Dea baseball team ended its season with a game against Camas. Problem is, this time the Irish left the field in much more somber spirits.

“In Saturday's Class 3A state quarterfinal, O'Dea fell to the top-ranked Papermakers 12-3, ending its bid for a third straight state title. The Irish beat Camas in the championship game last season, but it was evident in the rematch that these were much different teams this year.

“The Papermakers (25-0), who will face No. 2 Shorewood in the semifinals, scored five in the second, taking advantage of a couple of O'Dea errors. That was more than enough for Camas ace Kurt Yinger, who struck out five and allowed two earned runs in a complete-game victory.”

Read the rest of the Times story about the Camas game here:

Shorewood 3, West Seattle 0

West Seattle 000 000 0--0 1 0

Shorewood 021 000 0--3 5 0

Hellinger and Mai. Snell and Heideger.  

WP--Snell (8-0).  LP--Mai. 2B--Andrews (S) 1.  HR--Mitsui (S) 1.

Shorewood 5, Seattle Prep 3

Seattle Prep 000 111 0--3 6 1

Shorewood 110 111 0--5 9 1

Smith, Rodger (6) and Macleon. McAree, Moriarty (6) and Heideger. 

WP--McAree (10-1). LP--Smith. 2B--Simpson (SP) 1, Heideger (SW) 1. HR--Hall (SP) 1, McKeever (S) 1, Mitsui (SW) 1.