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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
By Paul Valencia Columbian Staff Writer

To borrow a phrase from the NBA, this is where playoffs happen.

This is where a team that had never reached the state soccer tournament can celebrate.

This is where a baseball team with question marks coming into the season could make it back to state, with only one senior on its roster.

This is where spring sports make it count.

The practices and soccer matches in dreadful weather. The rainouts, sending baseball teams to hit in a cage. Every year, the weather pattern seems to get worse for spring sports in this region.

Then the calendar turns to May, and even if the weather can still be a flip of the coin, it really doesn’t matter anymore, because this is where playoffs happen.

The Hockinson Hawks weren’t supposed to be where they are today, preparing for the Class 2A state baseball tournament this weekend.

“We take fourth in our league, and we’re the last people remaining (from our league),” Hockinson coach Rick Skinner said. “Interesting how that all worked out.”

It is not like the Hawks aren’t used to success. They were 20-1 in 2006 before losing in the round of 16 at state. Last year, they reached the final four. But those squads had six players who made all-league lists. This year, Travis Boman is the lone senior.

“We came in not knowing anything about how we were going to do,” Skinner said.

The Hawks used that to their advantage.

“They said, ‘We’re going to give it our all and people are going to underestimate us, and that’s going to be their downfall.’ They’ve kept that attitude all year,” Skinner explained.

The Hawks had to win a pigtail game just to get into the main bracket of the Class 2A district tournament. They won two more games to reach the district title contest.

Skinner credits Boman for much of the team’s success.

“You appreciate him so much because we have so many young kids on the team,” Skinner said. “All the kids see how he stays on task, working hard. It rubs off on the younger kids, and it makes a big difference.”

Boman backs it up on the field. He went 9 for 15 in the four playoff games.

Skinner also noted the play of Connor Perry, a freshman with a 1.30 ERA; Casey Sawyer, who has four home runs and leads the team with 21 RBI; Kyle Jones, who is batting around .375 and has 16 stolen bases; and the defensive genius of catcher Jody Robertson.

Then there is clean-up hitter James MacDonald, who was a platoon player a year ago but now is batting .390 and has 20 stolen bases.

“I’m not satisfied because it’s not over yet, but I definitely am proud of everything they’ve endured this season,” Skinner said.

The Hudson’s Bay Eagles, meanwhile, played a state boys soccer match Tuesday night. That should be the first time that sentence has ever been published in The Columbian. After all, it’s the first appearance for the Eagles at state.

“They know about our soccer program now,” coach Justin Wolvert said of students at Bay. “It’s nice when you win some things. Once you start winning some big games, against big opponents, it creates quite a buzz. It’s pretty exciting for everybody.”

Actually, this is the second year in a row the Eagles got at least one big win. The past two years, after finishing third in the 3A Greater St. Helens League, the Eagles beat No. 2 Columbia River for the district’s second seed.

This year, Bay went an extra step, winning a bi-district playoff match to get to state.

Wolvert said he is not all that surprised. The Eagles have had trouble finishing on attacks, but once they figured that out, they’ve been on quite a run.

The bi-district win was much like the victories over Columbia River.

“There was no pressure on us,” Wolvert said. “They were supposed to win the game, we weren’t. The underdog role kind of suits us.”

Wolvert said several players have keyed the success, adding that four-year starter Caleb Escobedo deserves much of the credit.

“He’s somebody who does a little bit of everything for us. He’s been our rock,” the coach said.

Sophomore Matt Dally, meanwhile, has scored in four of the past five matches for the Eagles.

Every playoff team has stories like these.

That’s why the athletes deal with the dreary every spring, for moments like these.

This is where Hockinson happens.

This is where Hudson’s Bay happens.

Paul Valencia covers high school sports for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4557 or e-mail at paul.valencia@columbian.com.