黑料福利社

OTHELLO 鈥� Selah continued to peak at the right time Saturday on the road against a league rival.

After opening the 2A state tournament with an 8-0 win over No. 6 Columbia River Saturday in Othello, the No. 11 Vikings erased a six-run deficit to beat the No 3 Huskies and return to the semifinals for the second straight year. Christian Keller's three-run triple over the centerfielder's head capped off the comeback before Braxton Young returned to the mound to retire the last four batters聽after he pitched five shutout innings to start the opener.

Coach Mike Archer said he intentionally left Young off the mound in two previous games against Othello this season, and it took him just one pitch to work out of a jam with two outs and two on in the sixth. The Huskies won the last four meetings between the two teams dating back to last year's state third-place game and Archer said his players welcomed another opportunity.

"They were pumped," Archer said. "We always say teams don't want to play us in May. We're a different team."

A Lucas Williams solo home run for Selah tied the game just before Othello blew it wide open with a six-run third inning. The CWAC champions gave up two runs thanks to a wild pitch and an error but still looked to be in control when first-team All-CWAC pitcher Aiden Garza reached his pitch limit after five innings, since he threw 15 pitches to close out a 1-0, 10-inning win over No. 14 Chief Sealth in Game 1.

Teague Simpson walked to lead off the sixth inning and Drew Brewer's RBI single following two wild pitches knocked Seattle University signee Quade Gonzalez quickly out of the game. Dylan Kingston's sacrifice fly added another run and Williams walked to load the bases for Keller with two outs.

Colton Barthel threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings against the Huskies and also closed out a two-hit shutout of Columbia River for the No. 11 Vikings, as the two Vikings pitchers worked around six walks to hold the Rapids scoreless for only the second time this season. Archer said the Viks initially wanted to pull Young out even earlier when he hit 53 pitches but decided to let him throw 79 of his permitted 105 pitches for the day before turning to Barthel.

"He's a strike thrower," Archer said. "He bridged that gap for us."聽

Five straight Selah hitters reached base with two outs in a six-run third inning, capped off by Kingston's second single of the inning to bring home Jack Kennedy.

Archer said his hitters showed great plate discipline all day, forcing pitchers to throw strikes. The Vikings drew five walks against the Rapids and another six against the Huskies.

Three of those walks plus a hit-by-pitch during the Vikings' big inning against Othello helped them extend their winning streak to five games after failing to win the CWAC league title for the first time in 12 years. Selah avenged losses to East Valley and Ellensburg to win last week's district championship.

The Vikings (17-8) will face No. 2 Tumwater in next Friday's semifinals at Joe Martin Stadium in Bellingham. The Thunderbirds gave up a combined three hits while beating No. 15 Port Angeles 7-0 and No. 7 Nathan Hale 5-0 on Saturday.

Selah highlights vs. Columbia River:聽Braxton Young 5IP, 0R, 2H, 4K, 3BB; Colton Barthel 2IP, 0R, 0H, 2K, 3BB; Dylan Kingston 2-4, RBI.聽vs. Othello: Lucas Williams 1-2, HR, 2 runs; Christian Keller 1-4, 3b, 3 RBI; Drew Brewer 2-3, RBI.

NATHAN HALE 4, ELLENSBURG 3: At Centralia, the first of Carter Peone's two doubles sparked a rally to give the No. 10 Bulldogs a three-run lead before the No. 7 Raiders stormed back and retired 10 of Ellensburg's last 11 hitters. The Bulldogs ended their season 15-10.聽

Ellensburg highlights:聽Carter Peone 3-4, 2 2b, run.

Class 4A State

CURTIS 8, WEST VALLEY 2: At Yakima County Stadium, the No.4 Rams suffered their first loss of the season to the No. 13 Vikings.

West Valley baseball's undefeated season ends with first-round loss to Curtis

West Valley's second straight dazzling run to the Class 4A state baseball tournament was again halted by first-round disappointment on Saturda…

Class 1A State

OVERLAKE/BEAR CREEK 6, ZILLAH 5: At Wenatchee, Beau Donahoe finished 3-for-3 for the No. 7 Leopards and Caleb Rutherford added two hits against the No. 10 Owls in a first-round game. Zillah ended its season 18-6.

Zillah highlights: Caleb Rutherford 2-3, run; Beau Donahoe 3-3.

LYNDEN CHRISTIAN 7, NACHES VALLEY 0: At Lynden Christian, the No. 14 Rangers outhit the No. 3 Lyncs 8-7 in a first-round game thanks to two singles each by Koben Clark, Logan Clements and Issac Mahre. Naches Valley finished its season 12-13.

NV highlights: Koben Clark 2-4; Logan Clements 2-3, Issac Mahre 2-3.

Class 2B State

KITTITAS 10, OKANOGAN 1: At Parker Faller Field, Eli Nash struck out nine over five innings and scored twice as the No. 2 Coyotes beat the No. 15 Bulldogs for their first state win since 2010.

Kittitas (20-3) will face the winner of No. 7 Mount Vernon Christian and No. 10 Toutle Lake in a 4 p.m. quarterfinal.

Kittitas highlights: Eli Nash 5IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 9K, 2-3, 2 runs, RBI; Owen Hutchinson 1-2, 2 runs, 2 RBI; Terry Huber 1-1, 2B, run, 2 RBI; Jared Johnson 2-4, 2B, run, 2 RBI; Brock Hutchinson 1-2, run, RBI.

Class 1B State

NASELLE 23, SUNNYSIDE CHRISTIAN 3: At Naselle, the No. 7 Knights surrendered 14 runs in the first inning of their quarterfinal loss to the No. 2 Comets.

Carson Van De Graaf tripled and Jackson Bosma doubled for Sunnyside Christian (14-7-1) in their season finale.

Sunnyside Christian highlights: Carson Van De Graaf 2-2, 3B, run, RBI; Jackson Bosma 1-2, 2B, RBI.

SOFTBALL

Class 2B State

NAPAVINE 10, KITTITAS 8: At Gateway, Leah Weekes and Paisley Kuhl each homered as the No. 9 Coyotes (17-12) ended their season with a loss to the No. 4 Tigers.聽

Kittitas highlights: Leah Weekes 1-4, HR, 2 runs; Paisley Kuhl 1-3, HR, 2 RBI; Addison Conley 1-3, run, RBI; Tatum Josenhans 1-3, run, RBI; Fionna Higgins 2-4, run, RBI; Libby Huss 2-4, run, RBI.

Class 1B State

ALMIRA-COULEE-HARTLINE 10, SUNNYSIDE CHRISTIAN 6: At Gateway, Kendall Riel went 2-for-4 and tied the game with an RBI single in the third inning for the No. 2 Knights against the No. 3 Warriors. Sunnyside Christian finished the season 18-9.

SC highlights: Devan Harrington 2-3, 2b, 2 runs; Maylee Smeenk 2-4, run, RBI; Kendall Riel 2-4, RBI; Jayna Elenbaas 2-3, 2 runs.

This story will be updated.