An up-and-down season that saw Thomas Jefferson finish second in the South Puget Sound League Northwest came to an end on Saturday as the Raiders fell 3-0 to Timberline in a winner-to-state, loser-out game at Heritage Park.

Jefferson sent Spencer Smith to the mound while Timberline went with Austin Whalen. Both pitchers produced quality starts, but in the end it was the bats of the Blazers that managed to find just enough gaps to put points on the scoreboard.

Christian Larson started the game with a single for Timberline. He advanced to third by way of a stolen base and after tagging up on a pop fly.

Cody Kartman drew a walk to put runners on the corners, but Whalen popped out to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, Jefferson responded by getting runners on the corners themselves.

Jacob Swanson drew a walk with one out and Mason Delacruz followed that with a single. Swanson was able to reach third when Tyson Sonnenfeld flied out to center field.

Blake Null’s deep fly to center field ended the inning, leaving the game scoreless after one.

The Blazers again nearly scored a run in the second inning. Aaron Furman drew a walk to start the inning but was caught stealing shortly thereafter. Another walk and a line out left a runner on first with two outs.

Jay Carlton singled to left-center field for the Blazers, but Jefferson was able to tag out Ben Whit as he tried to score from first. Jefferson catcher Bailey Burget applied a tag to the sternum of Whit that sent him falling to the ground as the top of the inning ended.

The next two and a half innings had nothing for either team.

Larson singled again for Timberline, but the next six batters were retired by Smith. Meanwhile, Whalen was able to increase his total of consecutive batters retired to 10.

It wasn’t a matter of not getting a bat on the ball for either team. The problem was that each time they did, it was always hit directly to someone on the opposing team.

“I think we put more balls in play hit with authority than they did,” said Jefferson head coach Joseph Townsend. “But we hit it right at people. The name of the game is to find a hole. We couldn’t find a hole.”

Smith recorded the first strikeout for either team midway through the top of the fourth inning. He would finish with two strikeouts, while Whalen finished with three.

Timberline was finally able to break out in the top of the fifth.

An error led to Darian Griffin reaching first for the Blazers, and a Carlton single moved him up to second. Jefferson eventually got back the out they missed by trapping Griffin in a rundown on a pick-off attempt.

The next two batters, Christian Larson and Tucker Stroup, were hit by pitches to load the bases.

Lucas Reid was able to hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field, sending Carlton in for the first score of the game.

Kartman doubled to left-center field just three pitches later, scoring two runners for the Blazers and increasing their lead to 3-0.

Whalen followed Kartman’s double with a single of his own to left-center field. Sonnefeld was able to retrieve the ball and throw a perfect ball to Burget as Kartman rounded third.

The ball reached Burget’s mitt with Kartman only about two-thirds of the way to home plate. He decided to slide in hard at the legs of Burget, and both the Burget and Townsend took exception to the play.

The Raiders’ bats still couldn’t find any space in the bottom of the inning, but they also didn’t give anything to Timberline in the top of the sixth.

In the bottom of the sixth, the umpire made a controversial call when he ejected Jefferson’s Emmanuel Hinojoza from the game for stepping on Blazers’ first baseman Reid’s ankle on a close play at first.

After the second baseman bobbled a ground ball, Hinojoza was attempting to beat the throw. As he reached the bag, he landed on Reid’s ankle instead, an act the umpire deemed intentional.

The game resumed after a heated discussion between Townsend and the umpire. Jefferson was unable to put a runner on the base in the final inning as Whalen finished the game retiring 19 consecutive batters and giving up just the single hit and walk in the first inning.

“We had one inning where we kind of left our gloves in the dugout and forgot to play catch,” Townsend said. “If you do that in a high school game, especially in a tight game, you give up unwarranted runs and you suffer for it.”

He added, “These guys should be super-proud of themselves. I’m proud of them. For the ten seniors that unfortunately don’t get to put this uniform on anymore, it’s heart-breaking.”

Whalen pitched a complete game, giving up one hit, one walk and striking out three batters.

Larson and Carlton were both 2-for-3 for Timberline. Kartman was 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBIs. Reid was 0-for-2 but picked up an RBI.

Smith pitched a complete game for Jefferson, giving up six hits, three walks, three runs and striking out two batters.

“The game overall was an incredible baseball game,” Townsend said. “Outside of the couple of foolish plays that happened, it was a great baseball game. You don’t want some lopsided game. You get two pitchers who go seven innings and deal. I think their kid gave up one hit today. He was money for them. And my kid, I couldn’t ask for more from him. I couldn’t be happier to be the coach for T.J.

“[The seniors] are amazing. They did all I could ask for four years. They had to deal with me for four years; that’s saying a lot. At the end of the day, I told the people at T.J. when I took the job, ‘If you’re hiring me for wins and losses, then don’t hire me.’ But at the end of four years, if I’ve made these young men better people with a better opportunity to succeed in life through the game of baseball, then I’ve done my job. I think these 10 seniors will go on and be very successful in life and make Thomas Jefferson, their family members and their coach proud.”

Jefferson finishes the season with a 12-14 record.