The Sehome baseball team has a long, proud tradition. On Saturday, the defending state champion Mariners will take on a team that’s building a tradition in its first year as a school.
Sehome (19-4) plays Kingston (15-9) at 10 a.m. Saturday in a Class 2A state tournament firstround game at Volunteer Field in Anacortes, with the winner playing in a 4 p.m. quarterfinal against the winner of the 1 p.m. game between Aberdeen and Archbishop Murphy.
The Buccaneers earned the No. 2 seed from the West Central District on Saturday by winning two games in the district consolation bracket. Kingston defeated Klahowya 12-7 in a winner-to-state, loser-out game.
Kingston High School opened its doors last fall, and the Buccaneers have had a quality first year in athletics; their girls’ basketball team qualified for the state tournament, and the boys’ soccer team, in an ironic twist, hosts Sehome in a state 1:30 p.m. quarterfinal on Saturday.
“That speaks well of their coaches, and that group of kids,” Sehome coach Gary Hatch said.
Kingston is led by junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Sullivan and junior shortstop
Ruben Smith, each of whom were named to the all-Olympic League first team.
“Sullivan, basically he put him on his back all season,” Hatch said. “He’s a mid-80s guy with a good breaking ball. And Smith is a good one. You don’t want to let him beat you — we’ve got to pitch carefully with him — and their first five hitters are pretty good, from what I hear.”
The Lynden baseball team has a fairly hefty road trip for its first-round game, as the Lions (15-9) play Fife (19-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Yelm High School. The winner of that contest plays a quarterfinal game against the winner of the Hockinson- Cedarcrest game.
The Trojans have a veteran team that scores an impressive amount of runs, according to Lynden coach Cory White.
“They seem to be a seniordominant team, very similar to us,” White said. “They have a big hard-throwing left-hander who’s a sophomore, so we’re kind of kind of prepping for that.
“From what I’ve seen, they score lots of runs, so they can put it out of reach early on,” White added. “We’re hoping we can keep them at bay. By keeping the game close, maybe we can get them to put some pressure on themselves.”
Traveling even further is Ferndale — the Golden Eagles (21- 3) play Kennewick (15-7) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Parker Field in Yakima in a Class 3A State Tournament first-round contest. The winner plays the Kamiakin-Hanford winner at 4 p.m.
The Lions earned the No. 1 seed from District 5/6/8 with a 10-4 victory over Kamiakin, while Ferndale was forced to make a torrid run through the Northwest District tournament consolation bracket to earn one of the district’s two spots to state.
The Golden Eagles defeated Shorecrest 12-9 and topped Everett 8-3 on Saturday at Mount Vernon to advance. The latter win took the sting off a 7- 3 win by the Seagulls in the district semifinal, a loss that forced Ferndale into the consolation bracket.
“This is great for the kids,” Ferndale coach Sean Linville said Saturday. “I’m really happy they made it to state. To have the kind of season we have had not make it to state would be a real disappointment.”
Craig Parrish can be reached at craig.parrish@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2279.