A dreary day in Tacoma was made worse for Federal Way’s baseball team as they were knocked out of the state tournament in the first game of the regional round in a 3-2 loss to Woodinville on Sunday.
The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but rain forced the regional to Sunday.
Woodinville was the No. 2 seed from District 2 to qualify for the state tournament. They were the regular-season champion in the KingCo league but were upset by Mt. Si in the league championship game.
The Falcons made it clear from the beginning they were going to be aggressive in getting a runner on base and be content playing small ball thereafter.
Nolan McCaffterty lined the first pitch of the game by Federal Way’s Calvin Turchin right back up the middle for a single. A sacrifice bunt moved him up to second on the very next pitch.
A batter later, Woodinville had runners on the corners. A well-executed safety squeeze got the Falcons the first run on the board.
Federal Way took a bit longer to kick-start their offense. Woodinville pitcher Colton Van Til managed to retire eight straight batters after starting the game by walking Ben Koler.
It was Koler, the only batter to reach base the first time through the lineup, who also got the first hit in the bottom of the third. It started a two-out rally for the Eagles.
Christian Jones followed with a double, putting Koler on third. Eddie Peraza brought both of them home on a double to give Federal Way a 2-1 lead.
The lead was brief, however.
The Falcons attacked the first pitch again in the top of the fourth. This time it resulted in a fly out.
The second pitch was hit for a single. Four pitches later, Woodinville had runners on first and second after Mack Minnehan was hit by a pitch.
Woodinville resorted to their small-ball tactics, leading to one of the bigger plays of the game: Taylor Merry squared up to bunt on the first pitch he saw. It landed almost perfectly between home and third and slowly rolled down the line. Federal Way let it roll, hoping for a foul ball that never came.
With the bases loaded and just one out, Turchin put together a good string of pitches, striking out A.J. Schramm to get the second out.
The stars aligned for Woodinville once again during Chris Wilson’s at-bat. He hit a blooper to left field that landed between the left fielder and shortstop.
Tyler Praven, the shortstop, stretched for it, but it went just over his glove. Two runs were scored on the play, giving the Falcons a 3-2 lead.
“It’s a game of inches,” Federal Way head coach Arlo Evasick said. “That’s why it’s a great game. Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes it’s the difference in the game. Not to take away anything from them, I just think that’s the difference today. A couple balls that didn’t go our way.”
Federal Way got through the next three innings without giving up a run. In the top of the sixth, they scrambled on a wild pitch and threw out a runner coming home from third.
Unfortunately for them, their bats went cold.
They might have had an opportunity to score when Mark Wright was walked to open the bottom of the fourth. During Turchin’s at-bat, Wright attempted to steal second and the throw from the catcher was errant.
Wright made his way to third. After everything settled, though, the umpires ruled that Turchin had interfered with the throw. He was called out and Wright returned to first.
In the bottom of the seventh, Federal Way threatened again as Koler started the inning with a single. Drew Barlow had come in to close the game for Woodinville and managed to strike out Jones for the first out.
Peraza was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second with just one out.
Gabe Togia popped out to second and the Eagles were down to their final out. Then Dawson Bakker grounded into a fielder’s choice and the Woodinville shortstop threw out Peraza as he ran to second.
“The pitcher made good pitches,” Evasick said. “They didn’t really open the door for much. Our guys did everything we needed them to do and gave us a chance to win it. Guy made some big pitches when he needed to.”
Van Til and Barlow combined to give up just four hits, five walks, and two runs while striking out seven batters for Woodinville.
Wilson was 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBIs. McCafferty led the Falcons with two hits.
All four of Federal Way’s hits came from the top of the order. Koler had two hits while Jones and Peraza both had one. Wright and Jeff Cochran both reached base once with a walk.
Turchin pitched five and two-thirds innings, striking out two and giving up three runs. Neither Bakker nor Kyle Williams gave up a hit in relief.
“Those guys earned everything they did this year,” Evasick said. “It was in the hands of the right people at the right time and they beat us today.”
Woodinville would go on to win the regional after defeating Snohomish 8-6 in their quarterfinal game later Sunday evening. They will play Kentwood in the semifinals at Gesa Stadium in Pasco on May 27.
“We talked about tradition, and I think that was kind of the biggest thing that I think is lost in high school baseball,” Evasick said. “Hopefully this will start something for these guys and the guys coming up and set some expectations. For these guys to get to play and compete in front of their family and friends and for their school, it’s pretty special. I think it gets overlooked and I think these guys appreciated it this year.”
Federal Way finishes the season with a 20-5 record.
