A setback in the Class 3A state semifinals didn’t deter the Eastside Catholic Crusaders baseball team.
Eastside Catholic, which lost 11-5 against the Southridge Suns in the state semifinals on May 25, rebounded with a convincing 10-0 victory against Edmonds-Woodway in the third-/fourth-place matchup on May 26 at Gesa Stadium in Pasco. The Crusaders pushed eight runs across the plate in the final three innings of play in their season finale on the diamond.
Eastside Catholic head coach Kyle Larsen was proud of his players for redeeming themselves against Edmonds-Woodway.
“It was really good to see our guys bounce back. Obviously it was disappointing because the night before we felt like we beat ourselves with the five errors (against Southridge). The guys could had easily just buried themselves and said the season is over but they didn’t. They finished the season out right,” Larsen said of the win against Edmonds-Woodway.
Eastside Catholic starting pitcher Jacob Dahlstrom pitched six innings against Edmonds-Woodway. Crusaders’ hurler Michael Morgan pitched the final inning of the season in the bottom of the seventh to close out the season. Crusaders’ senior Bryson Beltran went 3-for-5 with two doubles and Will Armbruester finished the game with three hits.
Larsen was thrilled to see his team attain its goal of having a breakthrough season. In 2016 and 2017, the Crusaders were eliminated in the first round of the Class 3A state tournament but finally got over the hump this year.
“It was exciting and it had been a long time coming. Once we got by Arlington and got that 6-5 win (first round of the state tourney), I think the confidence level shot up. To get through that Saturday (first round and quarterfinals) I think that is the hardest day to get through in high school baseball,” Larsen said. “Getting through that with this group of guys was big. We got to go down and see what Pasco and what the final four is all about. Just getting there was a huge accomplishment. Obviously we felt like we had a chance to win it but taking third place at state is not bad at all.”
