As the old baseball adage goes, pitching wins championships.
And if that’s the case, the Skyview baseball team may have the right combination.
The Storm threw back-to-back shutouts — beat West Valley of Yakima 8-0 then Walla Walla 1-0 — to earn a trip to Safeco Field and the Class 4A state semifinals.
Skyview will play Puyallup at 10 a.m. Friday at Safeco Field.
Brody Barnum and Nick Jennings combined on a four-hit shutout in the first game at Yakima County Stadium against West Valley.
Daniel Copeland and Jennings combined on another four-hit shutout against Walla Walla, but that game was far more intense.
Copeland took a two-hitter into the seventh inning after working around two errors in the sixth.
Walla Walla opened with a single, and one out later, had runners on second and third after a double.
That’s when Jennings came in to pitch.
Jennings struck out the first batter he faced, then got the second to hit a 2-2 pitch to short for the final out, giving the Storm their first semifinal appearance since winning the 2013 state championship.
Copeland struck out two and walked one in 6.1 innings of work.
The Storm loaded the bases on two singles and walk and scored the game’s only run when Ryan Pitts scored on a fielder’s choice. Pitts was 2 for 3.
Skyview gave Barnum a lot more breathing room in the first game after putting five runs on the board in the second inning.
The Storm scored their first two runs on error and another on a sacrifice fly before Barnum tripled to drive home a run, then Michael Lundgren added an RBI single.
Skyview added three more insurance runs in the seventh.
Lundgren was 3 for 4, Copeland was 2 for 5 with two RBI, and Liam Kerr was 2 for 3 with two runs.
