The Federal Way High School baseball team (13-1, 18-3) won the No. 1 seed in the North Puget Sound League on April 30, with a 5-0 victory over Tahoma (11-3, 15-6) at Hogan Park in the league’s divisional crossover playoff.
This was a game of first place finishers; Federal Way in the Olympic division and Tahoma in the Cascade division, determining the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds for the NPSL going into the district playoffs.
Federal Way’s Tyler Hoeft and Carter Berry combined to pitch a one-hitter for the Eagles, throwing a total of 12 strikeouts in the game. Hoeft got in trouble early in the first inning when Tahoma loaded the bases with nobody out. But two strikeouts and a pickoff by catcher Ayden Vega at third base ended Tahoma’s best chance at preventing the shutout.
Federal Way was 13-1 in league play this season and begins district playoff action against the NPSL No. 5 seed, Enumclaw (8-6, 12-8), Tuesday, May 7, at 7 p.m. at Art Wright Field in Kent (850 Central Ave N.)
Federal Way has won 13 games in a row and is ranked second in the state for all 4A teams in the Washington Baseball Poll.
Also on Tuesday, a rally by Todd Beamer came up one run short in their loss to Kentridge (9-5, 15-5). The Titans (7-7, 8-11) must now win a “play-in” game on Saturday, May 4, to advance to the district tournament.
The game started off with Todd Beamer leading 1-0 in the first inning when James Turner batted a run in. At the bottom of the final inning the Titans were down 5-1 when Marques Richards, Willie Hernandez and Manny Frias Moreno all batted in runs to cut the Charger’s lead down to one run. But the game ended in a 5-4 loss for Todd Beamer.
Todd Beamer came into that game red hot, with five wins in a row, and will now play Union High School, the Greater St. Helens League No. 3 seed, on Saturday May 4, 5:30 p.m. at the Regional Athletic Complex (RAC) in Lacey. Only the winner advances.
After three “play-in” games on Saturday, the district playoffs for the West Central and Southwest will include 16 4A teams from the Puget Sound area; the NPSL and the SPSL, in addition to the GSHL. District playoffs start Tuesday, May 7.
A total of 45 4A baseball teams entered playoff action around the state this past week as the field will eventually be narrowed down to 16 teams for the state regional tournament taking place Saturday, May 18.
Thomas Jefferson played their final game of the regular season on Monday, April 29, against Tacoma’s Washington High School at Cheney Stadium, which is home to the Tacoma Rainiers Minor League Baseball team.
The Raiders not only won by a score of 14-2, but they were able to cycle in the roster of two dozen players for their final game of the season at the minor league ballpark.
