The Thomas Jefferson Raider baseball team was one step away from qualifying for the Class 4A state tournament after a huge seventh-inning comeback win over Emerald Ridge Saturday afternoon at Heritage Park in Puyallup.
But the South Kitsap Wolves ended the Raiders’ season in Jefferson’s second game at the West Central District Tournament. The Wolves, who finished second in the Narrows League, blew out Jefferson, 10-2, in a loser-out, winner-to-state contest.
The Raiders, who finished fourth in the South Puget Sound League North Division, earned a shot at the state tournament by scoring eight runs in the top of the seventh inning in another loser-out game Saturday morning against Emerald Ridge. Jefferson (13-10) beat the Jaguars, 10-5.
Against Emerald Ridge, the Jaguars rolled out to a 4-0 lead with two runs in the bottom of the third and two more in the fifth.
The Raiders responded with two runs of their own in the top of the sixth, before exploding for the eight runs in the top of the seventh to take a 10-4 advantage. Emerald Ridge, which finished second in the SPSL South, tallied a single run in the seventh.
The big blow during the Raiders’ seventh inning came from Drew Staples, who connected on a 3-run home run. Staples also picked up the win on the mound for TJ. Anthony Tomyn finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. The Raiders finished with 10 hits.
Jefferson could never get anything going against South Kitsap, which was forced into the game with TJ after losing to Puyallup, 1-0, earlier in the day. The Raiders mustered only five hits off South Kitsap starter Collin Monagle and reliever Scott McGallian. Monagle, who has already signed to pitch at the University of Washington, was making his first start of the season after offseason surgery on his shoulder.
The Wolves tallied three runs in the top of the first and added seven more in the fifth to take a 10-0 lead over TJ. The Raiders added single runs in the fifth and sixth, including a solo home run by Brett Fitzgerald.
Fastpitch
In their first-ever appearance in the postseason, Todd Beamer Titans snared the SPSL’s ninth seed into this weekend’s West Central District Tournament. The Titans (11-9) downed Tahoma Friday night in a battle between the two fifth-place teams from the SPSL. Beamer will play the Narrows-League champion Wilson Rams (17-2) at 10 a.m. Friday at the Sprinker Recreation Center in Spanaway. The top-six finishers from the double-elimination West Central District Tournament advance to state.
The Titans earned the berth into the postseason with a 5-1 win over Bethel Thursday at the Kent Service Fields. Beamer and Bethel tied for the fourth and final berth in the SPSL South Division with identical 7-9 records, forcing the tiebreaking game. The two teams split their two regular-season meetings.
Against Bethel, the Titans exploded for three runs in the bottom of the first inning and pitcher Emma Blauser allowed only one run and seven hits during the win.
Offensively, Beamer got a pair of RBIs from Brianne Grosche and Sarah Petosa tallied three runs and a stolen base. Taylor Winton finished 1 for 3 with an RBI triple.
Thomas Jefferson (14-5) earned the SPSL’s sixth seed into the West Central District Tournament with a 4-2 loss to the Puyallup Vikings Friday at the SPSL Tournament in Kent. The Raiders and Vikings were the two third-place teams from the North and South divisions of the SPSL.
Jefferson jumped out to a 2-0 lead against Puyallup with single runs in the third and fourth innings. But it was their defense that proved costly during the Vikings’ four-run fifth inning. Puyallup (12-6) took advantage of two TJ errors to capture the league’s fifth seed into the district tournament. Amber Tomlinson and Kelsey Robinson both had RBI singles during the inning. Robinson also picked up the win on the mound for the Vikings.
Jefferson will play Central Kitsap in their West Central District opener at noon at the Sprinker Recreation Center Friday. Central Kitsap finished third in the Narrows League.
