Reporter staff
Kentridge and Kentwood will open the Class 4A baseball state tournament with games on Saturday.
Kentwood’s roller coaster postseason is still on track as it plays Bothell at 10 a.m. at Everett Memorial Stadium in the regional round. Bothell was the third seed in the 4A KingCo baseball tournament then beat Ballard and Eastlake to punch its ticket to state and get into to the KingCo championship game May 10, losing 3-1 to Woodinville.
Kentridge plays Richland at 1 p.m. at Richland High School. The Chargers earned a state berth with a 3-2 win over Gig Harbor in the West Central District tournament.
After a narrow loss to Puyallup in the South Puget Sound League championship game — the same team Kentwood beat in the 2012 4A title game — the Conquerors punched their ticket to state with a 5-0 victory over Heritage in the first round of district May 7 and had a chance to get back to the district championship game.
South Kitsap stood between Kentwood and the district title contest. While it was a matter of playing for seeding in the state bracket, the higher the place the better the draw, generally speaking. South Kitsap had Kentwood’s number, though, and knocked the Conks off 11-1 in five innings. Kentwood’s only run came early in the game when senior catcher Reese McGuire was able to score from first after the ball was fired past the first baseman into foul territory.
Kentwood bounced back later that day, with a 9-4 victory over Skyview to secure the third seed out of the district into the state tournament.It wasn’t an easy win for the Conks, however, as they were down 4-2 before they exploded for seven runs in the seventh.
Junior Andrew Ebner went 2-for-3 with a double while senior Tanner Wessling’s 2-for-4 day with a home run and six RBIs. McGuire was 2-for-4 with a double and Mike Ciancio was 1-for-2 with an RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored. Freshman Jordan Jones pitched five innings, while Wessling and Spencer Greene each threw an inning of relief, with Green picking up the win for the Conks.
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