NEW —6:50 p.m. May 28, 2015
Something special is brewing on the Liberty baseball diamond.
The Patriots are in the state’s final four, after a weekend in which they eliminated Tumwater and then North Kitsap at Centralia’s Wheeler Field May 23.
Nate Steffens threw a complete game shutout, while Torey Anderson collected three hits to propel the Patriots to a 3-0 win over Tumwater. The Thunderbirds came into the contest with a 16-6 record and consistently found themselves in the top 10 of state rankings.
Liberty continued to stun spectators with a 4-3 come-from-behind win over North Kitsap.
After falling behind 3-0 in the third inning, the Patriots got one run back in the sixth, and then picked up three more in the seventh to secure the walk-off win and punch their ticket to the final four.
The Patriots are certainly the unlikeliest of final four participants.
They finished seventh in the eight-team KingCo 3A/2A Conference, and then literally walked into the district tournament, guaranteed a playoff spot since there are only two 2A teams in the league.
Liberty’s record still sits below .500, and the only way the Patriots can break even is if they go all the way and win the state title.
Can you say Cinderella? What a story.
Liberty joins Selah, Squalicum and Centralia at County Stadium in Yakima for the finals. The Patriots play Centralia at 7 p.m. May 29. If they win, they’ll play for the 2A state title 7 p.m. May 30. If they lose, they’ll play for third/fourth place at 1 p.m. May 30.
The Eli Radio Sports Network will broadcast all games online here. View the state bracket here.
We won’t be traveling to Yakima, but I’ll have my ear to that radio stream during the games. If you can help us with our coverage by providing news, stats or pictures from east of the mountains, please email me at newcastle@isspress.com.
Golf
The Liberty boys golf team finished second in the 2A state championship in Spokane May 28.
Dexter Simonds, Chase McIntosh and Ben Graham each finished in the top 15 to lead the Patriots. The team also sent golfers Collin Fletcher, Alex Wilsey and Luke Hall.
The Liberty girls sent three golfers and all of them — Sami Galluzzo, Taylor Woo and Hanna Hanson — finished in the top 40.
Nick Yee was Hazen’s lone state representative. He did not make the cut after the first day of the 3A boys state championship in Kennewick.
If you can help us with golf coverage by providing news, stats or pictures from east of the mountains, please email me at newcastle@isspress.com.
Tennis
Three Liberty High School athletes will compete in the 2A state tournament at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle May 29-30.
The doubles team of Marek Pierepiekarz and Matthew Cao qualified for state in the fall, but singles player Jyotsna Kuramkote qualified last weekend with a sixth place finish at the West Central District 3 tournament.
View the 2A boys doubles bracket here and the girls singles bracket here.
Hazen is also sending three athletes to state.
Gregg Furumasu, Bruno Hernandez-Sotres and Misa Takami will each represent the Highlanders as singles players in the 3A state tournament at Kamiakin High School and Tri City Court Club.
View the 3A boys singles bracket here and the girls singles bracket here.
If you can help us with Hazen coverage by providing news, stats or pictures from east of the mountains, please email me at newcastle@isspress.com.
Track and field
The state track and field championship is already well underway and Liberty and Hazen both sent a sizable contingent.
Andrew Cooper, Sytsma, Nate Solley and Romney Noel will represent the Liberty boys at state, while Cherelle Demps, Danielle Demps, Carlyn Schmidgall, Tyra Christopherson, Sophie Wartena, Kaiah Mclaren, Marissa Mills, Shannell Thompson and Kelley Johnson qualified on the girls’ side.
Kate Lilly, Sarah Hart, Plamedie Masiala, Sablena Milinganyo, Amy Warmenhoven, Alexis Rogers, Alicia Nguyen, Michelle Lilly, Jesus Vargas, Alex Fortescue, Aaron Rothlisberger, Dario Cirlincione, Saivon Johnson, Rhyan Denile and Parker Trewet will represent the Highlanders.
The state track and field championship is May 28-30 at Mount Tahoma High School. View the schedule here and the heat sheets here.