After sputtering somewhat toward the end of the season, the Kentwood High baseball team needed an offensive lift.
The Conquerors got one on Saturday at Everett Memorial Stadium in the first two rounds of the Class 4A state tournament.
Behind a slew of home runs, the Conquerors easily dispatched of both Skyline and Mountlake Terrace — 16-4 and 13-2 — to earn a berth in the state semifinals on Friday afternoon at Safeco Field in Seattle. Kentwood (19-3) will play Federal Way (18-5) at 4 p.m. on Friday in the first semifinal while Richland will take on Shorewood in the other half of the bracket. The Class 4A state championship is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday at Safeco.
Getting out to a quick start on Saturday proved to be key for the Conquerors.
“All the offense was pretty nice considering we had lost three games in a row coming into district and state,” said Kentwood’s Austin Voth, who went five innings on the mound to pick up the win over Skyline. “We really needed to boost our confidence up again and get us going.”
Consider it done.
The fourth-ranked Conquerors (19-3) pounded out 15 hits in the win over the Spartans, including a home run by shortstop Bryant VanEngelenburg. Zach Corpuz added three hits, including a double, while Avery Kain delivered three more hits and three RBIs.
But Kentwood was only getting started, socking three more long balls in its win over Mountlake Terrace. Cash McGuire, Avery Kain and Voth all homered in the semifinal-clinching victory. Kain also worked six strong innings on the mound to earn the win.
“He pitched his best game of the year,” said Kentwood coach Jon Aarstad. “It was nice to see that.”
Corpuz and Voth collected three hits apiece in the win over Mountlake Terrace.
Kentwood, which is making its sixth state appearance in the last seven years, will be making its first Final Four appearance since 2006. Interestingly, the Class 4A semifinals will have a distinctively South Puget Sound League North Division flavor as the Conquerors will play Federal Way (18-5) for a berth in the championship game. The surprising Eagles knocked off Kamiak (12-6) and Redmond (6-5) on Saturday. Kentwood has beaten Federal Way twice this season. The Conquerors throttled the ninth-ranked Eagles in the season opener March 23, 9-1. In that win, Voth delivered five scoreless innings, allowed just one hit and struck out 10. Kentwood beat Federal Way 7-2 on April 14. Kain went the distance on the mound, allowing two unearned runs and striking out 8.
“It’s very hard to beat a good team three times, and we beat them twice,” Aarstad said. “We definitely can’t look past them.”
There is reason for the Conquerors to enter the semifinal contest overconfident.
“It’s something we’re going to have to deal with this week,” Aarstad noted. “Federal Way is a much different team than the one we saw four weeks ago. They’re playing a much better brand of baseball now.”
Indeed. Since falling to Kentwood in April, Federal Way (18-5) has won 11 straight games. The Eagles will be making their first appearance in the state semifinals since 2003.
As of Sunday night, the plan was to start Voth on the mound Friday and go with Kain on Saturday.
“We’re going to pitch Austin on Friday just because that is what we’ve done all year,” responded Aarstad in regards to potentially saving Voth for Saturday.
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