Martinez: Sorting out teams headed to first full spring postseason in three years
High School Sports
By Tim Martinez, Columbian
Assistant Sports Editor
Published: May 3, 2022, 5:38pm
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For the first time in three years, local high school baseball teams will enter the postseason with a goal of winning the state championship. (Taylor Balkom/The Columbian)
This is where things get fun.
For the first time in three years — three years — high school sports team will be heading into a spring sports postseason that will culminate at the end of the month with a lucky few teams being crowned state champions.
It’s a little hard to fathom, but that is something most prep athletes have never experienced in their high school careers.
If you are a junior or younger, you’ve never experienced that. If you are a senior, you would have had to be on varsity as a freshman to know what that is like, and there aren’t many of those.
So let’s set the stage for district and bi-district playoffs in baseball and boys soccer as teams vie for spots in the state tournament. Softball teams have a couple of more weeks before their postseason begins.
Camas will play Sumner at 3 p.m. Saturday either at Camas High or Propstra Stadium. The winner clinches a spot in the regional round of state, while the loser must win two loser-out games to advance.
Battle Ground will play the South Puget Sound League No. 8 team at noon Saturday at a site to be announced, the first of three loser-out games the Tigers must win to advance to state.
Skyview will play Bellarmine of Tacoma at noon Saturday at a site to be announced, the first of three loser-out games the Storm must win to advance.
Mountain View will play the Pierce County League No. 2 team at 2 p.m. Saturday at Union High School. The winner clinches a spot in the regional round of state, while the loser must win twice more to advance, the first of which is a loser-out game.
Kelso will host the South Sound Conference No. 5 team at 11 a.m. Saturday in a loser-out game. The Hilanders must win three times to advance to state, the first two of which are loser-out games.
Prairie will play at North Puget Sound League No. 3 team on Saturday in a loser-out game. The Falcons must win three times to advance to state, the first two of which are loser-out games.
2A GSHL: Columbia River (12-2), Mark Morris (12-3), Ridgefield (10-5) have clinched district berths. Hockinson (9-5), Washougal (7-7), Hudson’s Bay (7-7), R.A. Long (6-8) are vying for the other two spots.
River moved to the inside position to grab the top seed with Mark Morris’ loss to Hockinson on Tuesday. The Monarchs will be the No. 2 seed, unless the Rapids falter.
Ridgefield appears headed to the No. 3 seed.
Hockinson needs one win over Hudson’s Bay on Wednesday or Friday to secure the No. 4 seed.
By virtue of its head-to-head sweep of Bay, Washougal has the inside track to the No. 5 seed over the Eagles. But Washougal faces two tough games against Ridgefield, giving Bay a potential opening. R.A. Long faces long odds.
The No. 5 seed will host the No. 4 team from the Evergreen Conference on Saturday for a berth to district.
Trico: King’s Way Christian (8-2), La Center (7-2) and Seton Catholic (7-4) have secured district berths. Columbia-White Salmon (3-9) will get the final spot with the next loss by Castle Rock (0-8).
King’s Way likely will need to beat Seton on Friday to secure the top spot, with La Center playing three games against last-place Castle Rock. Seton is locked into the No. 3 seed.
Union will play Olympia at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at McKenzie Stadium. The winner will be assured a spot at state, while the loser will need to win two loser-out games to advance.
Camas will host the South Puget Sound League No. 8 team at 2 p.m. Saturday in a loser-out bi-district game, the first of three the Papermakers will need to win to reach state.
Skyview will play at Emerald Ridge of Puyallup at 4 p.m. Saturday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup in a loser-out bi-district game, the first of three the Storm will need to win to reach state.
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Mountain View plays Stadium of Tacoma at 6 p.m. Saturday at McKenzie Stadium. The winner will be assured a spot at state, while the loser will need to win twice more to advance, the first of which is a loser-out game.
Evergreen will play the South Sound Conference No. 5 team at 1 p.m. Saturday at McKenzie Stadium in a loser-out game. The Plainsmen need to win three games to advance to state, the first two of which are loser-out games.
Heritage will play at North Puget Sound League No. 3 team on Saturday in a loser-out game. The Timberwolves will need to win three games to advance, the first two of which are loser-out games.
2A GSHL: Columbia River has clinched the No. 1 seed to district and will host a first-round match next Tuesday.
If Fort Vancouver (29 points) can beat Hudson’s Bay on Thursday, the Trappers will take the No. 2 seed to district. Ridgefield (29) will be the No. 2 or 3 seed.
Washougal (25) clinched a district berth with its win Tuesday. Woodland (23 points) took a big step toward securing a playoff berth with its win over R.A. Long on Tuesday, and the Beavers can secure the No. 4 seed with a win Thursday.
R.A. Long (21) and Hockinson (21) are praying for a Mark Morris win over Woodland on Thursday to keep their hopes alive.
Heading into Tuesday’s matches, Washougal (22), R.A. Long (21), Woodland (23) and Hockinson (21) are in the mix for the last two spots.
In the district first round on Saturday, Seton Catholic will host the Evergreen Conference No. 4 team at 11 a.m., King’s Way Christian will host Forks at 6 p.m., and Columbia-White Salmon will play at Montesano at noon.
The Trico No. 4 team will play at Elma at 6 p.m. That spot will go to Toledo-Winlock (3-6) or La Center (2-7). Toledo-Winlock gets the spot with a win over King’s Way on Thursday, while La Center could force a tiebreaker with a win Thursday against Stevenson and a Toledo-Winlock loss.
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