Chris Tamminen wasted no time after Thursday night’s KingCo 4A championship game.
Before the Skyline baseball team was even done shaking hands, he was halfway down the left field line, calling for the Spartans to gather.
“We’ve still got more baseball to play, keep your heads up,” the Skyline head coach shouted to his team, after losing the league title, 6-2, to Redmond.
Tamminen made it clear it was important for the Spartans to forget the loss quickly as they’ll get one more chance to lock up a state tournament berth at 2 p.m., Saturday against Evergreen of Vancouver at Woodinville High School.
“We would have loved to have won KingCo, but our goal is still to get to state and we have a chance to do that,” he said.
Skyline, which was the fourth seed from the Crest and one of only two teams in the KingCo tournament with a losing record, had Crest champion Redmond against the ropes early.
The Spartans showed patience against Mustang starter Dylan Davis drawing four first-inning walks, turning them into a quick 2-0 lead. With runners on second and third, Nate Litka hit a groundball to the right side of the infield scoring Connor Gilchrist. Sean Penberthy followed with a groundball to third. The throw to first was offline, allowing Anthony DeMatteo to score. Skyline had a chance for a third run in the inning, but Mikey Smith was gunned down at the plate trying to score from first on a Gilchrist double.
Davis calmed down over his next four innings of work, allowing just two more walks, no hits, with six strikeouts.
Spartan starter Conner Lawhead held the Redmond bats scoreless through the first one and two-thirds innings, before Peter Hendron opened the floodgates. The sophomore ripped a solo home run to left field with two outs in the bottom of the second, cutting the Mustangs’ deficit to 2-1. Redmond followed in the third inning with a two-run homer from Mike Conforto, and another two-run home run from Davis in the bottom of the fifth.
“They can swing it, they’re good,” Tamminen said. “We played three of the best hitting teams in KingCo and we won two out of three – that’s pretty good. We held our own as far as pitching, as far as hitting, as far as being fundamentally sound.”
Skyline started a mini rally in the top of the sixth when leadoff batter Jim Sinatro walked and Jake Opitz singled to center field. A flyout and a double play quickly extinguished the Spartans’ scoring hopes, however.
The Spartans still have one more chance to lock up a state berth when they face the Plainsmen of Evergreen. The winner of that game moves on to next week’s state tournament, the loser is out.
