Baseball
Eastside Catholic is back at the 3A state tournament for the first time since 2007 and hopes to continue its postseason run under first-year coach Kyle Larson.
The former Eastlake and UW standout called his team’s Metro tournament tirade “crazy” and too improbable even for a Hollywood script.
“I’m just telling them to have fun with this,” Larson said. “I could tell form day one that they loved baseball and were excited about it.”
Jeff Bohling played the lead role on offense in the final two Metro tournament games for the Crusaders, belting a pair of walk-off home runs in extra innings to help his team to the title.
On the mound, Blake Gillespie and Alex Foley have shouldered the load, each over 45 innings on the year with 43 strikeouts and sub-2.80 ERAs.
“Every time they take the mound, we know we have a chance to be in the game,” Larson said. “Other guys feed off that.”
Larson and the Crusaders will be the hosts at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue for an opening round game against Mount Vernon at 1 p.m. on Saturday and with a win, will be in the state quarterfinals for only the fifth time in school history.
Issaquah will open the 4A state tournament tomorrow at 10 a.m. at Everett Memorial Stadium against Puyallup and with a win will face either Skyview or Lake Stevens.
The fourth-seeded Vikings will likely have to deal with Issaquah ace Brandon Mahovlich, the leader in nearly every statistical category for the Eagles on the mound.
The Gonzaga-bound senior has tossed 41 innings this year with 56 strikeouts and a 0.34 ERA, notching five wins in the process.
Ethan Kalin and Andrew Kemmerer have been the leaders at the plate, combining for 35 RBI.
Boys soccer
Issaquah is back in the state tournament for only the second time in school history (2009) and will look to make its first ever semi-final appearance with a win over Central Kitsap at 2 p.m. tomorrow.
“It will be a tall order,” Issaquah head coach Jason Lichtenberger said. “But it should be a fun challenge.”
The 13 wins for the Eagles also ties the school record set in 2009.
Girls tennis
In singles action, Skyline’s Theresa Huang captured second place at the 4A KingCo girls tennis tournament, winning the runner-up match over Katie Park of Eastlake to earn one of the two automatic state berths.
Park won her first three matches of the tournament before falling to Huang and will play the third place finisher from 4A WesCo for the third and final state tournament berth.
On the doubles side, Angela Chen and Amie Vo of Newport swept through the bracket with four straight set wins to earn a spot in the state tournament and KingCo championship.
Sam Garrard and Kelsey Wilson of Issaquah were the second place finishers after falling the title match.
The 4A girls tennis tournament is May 25 and 26 at Richland High School and Columbia Basic Racquet Club.
Contacts and submissions: jsuman@bellevuereporter.com
