Top-ranked Richland advances to 4A semifinals

The Richland Bombers won the first game of the State 4A baseball tournament Saturday at Gonzaga Prep playing small ball against Central Valley and ace left-hander Rusty Shellhorn.

Then they bombed second-ranked Redmond 11-5 in the day’s finale, earning the defending state champions a return trip to Safeco Field next weekend. Jeremy Barwick’s two-run homer sparked a four-run second inning.

The top-ranked Bombers (23-1) will face Kentlake on Friday in the semifinals after outlasting CV 4-3 in eight innings and knocking around second-ranked Redmond (20-4) in the quarterfinals.

Redmond got to the day’s final game by routing Greater Spokane League champion – ranked third – University 15-0 behind Matt Burrows’ six-hitter.

Richland 4, CV 3 (8): Shellhorn was dominant for five innings, faltered a little in the sixth and was finished after seven innings and 129 pitches.

Shellhorn allowed six hits and three runs, struck out 14 and walked four.

The Bears (15-11) spotted the senior left-hander a 3-0 lead. First baseman Scott Simon put CV up two in the second when he launched a 1-0 Calvin Chunn fastball over the left-field fence.

Shellhorn’s RBI single to right in the third scored David Borgman.

Richland, which has won two of the last three 4A baseball titles, stayed close enough to rally, thanks to Chunn and 1 1/3 innings of one-hit relief from winner Kyle Stumetz.

The Bombers scored one in the fourth when cleanup hitter Cody Shepherd topped a 0-2 curveball in front of the plate and beat out the high hopper. Josh Rapacz drove the next pitch to the center-field wall – Richland’s first hard-hit ball – to cut the lead to 3-1.

In his next at-bat, in the sixth, Shepherd hit another Shellhorn curveball, but this one about 360 feet farther and over the fence in right-center.

With two outs and the bases loaded, leadoff hitter Marcelino Morales, who had struck out three consecutive times, coaxed a game-tying walk.

Trevor Shull, who pitched seven innings Tuesday in CV’s state-qualifying win over Wenatchee, relieved. Richland won on Kevin Lathim’s four-pitch walk with two outs and the bases loaded.

Redmond 15, U-Hi 0: The Mustangs scored three in the first against U-Hi ace Billy Moon and never stopped, piling up 21 hits in the rout.

“They hit everything we threw at them,” U-Hi coach Scott Sutherland said. “They had what, 21 hits? Wow. They were definitely the better team today.”

Right-hander Burrows (9-0) handcuffed the Titans (20-3) on six hits – three from Danny Jordan.

Leadoff hitter Tim Morris went 4 for 4, with a double and homer.

State 2A

Pullman earned a return to the semifinals for the first time since its 2005 championship season with a 15-0 whitewashing of Othello in the quarterfinals. The Greyhounds (15-7) opened the day in Chehalis by stopping River Ridge 11-5. Pullman will face Sehome in Friday’s semifinals at Yakima County Stadium.

Kevin Komstadius of East Valley-Yakima tossed a one-hitter and ended West Valley’s season at 17-5 with an 11-1 first-round win at Yakima. Clarkston (15-8) also dropped its opener, as Selah scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh for a 2-1 decision.

State 1A

The Freeman Scotties (21-1) head to the semifinals next weekend on an offensive roll, ousting Warden 11-3 in the first round behind five RBIs and a home run from Jake Sullivan, then pounding Friday Harbor 18-7 in the quarterfinal. The Scotties’ Chris Miller (six RBIs) and Beau Barnes each homered as Freeman rallied from a three-run deficit in the second game. The Scotties will face Rochester on Friday at Yakima County Stadium.

Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls (14-8) lost 10-9 to Goldendale in Wenatchee in a first-round game.

State 2B

Asotin moved on the semifinals by stopping Oroville 7-1 then pounding Lind-Ritzville 11-2 in the quarterfinals in Walla Walla. L-R (14-8) edged Riverside Christian 7-6 in its opener.

DeSales hammered out two wins at Shadle Park, defeating St. George’s 18-2 and routing Northwest Christian 29-5 in the quarterfinal. NWC (11-14) earned the quarterfinal berth with a 16-9 win over Kittitas. St. George’s finished the season 18-3.

State 1B

Casey Cox’s suicide squeeze bunt scored Jack Zorns with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh as Northport moved into the semifinals with a 3-2 win over Garfield-Palouse in Yakima. The Mustangs’ Tucker Guglielmino yielded two hits and struck out nine in improving his record to 13-1. He also added a two-run home run, his 13th. In the other Yakima quarterfinal, Curlew lost to Lake Quinault 3-0. Northport will meet Lake Quinault in the semifinals Friday at Parker Field in Yakima.

Colton also moved into the semifinals with a 31-6 rout of Wishkah Valley at Naches.