Prep baseball: Central Valley, Mt. Spokane reach state tournaments

Ryan Clay cleared the bases with a triple in the fourth inning and Central Valley (21-3) beat Gonzaga Prep (13-11) 8-1 in the District 8 4A third-place game on Saturday at Mead HS to earn a berth to state.

“We’ve kind of battled back, we’ve been down all year early and battled back and fought through things,” CV coach Jeramie Maupin said. “These guys just never give up, and we pulled it out.”

Freshman Parker Smith struck out four over six three-hit innings and Jaden Stough went 3 for 3 with an RBI for CV, which reaches the round of 16 for the first time since 2010.

Maupin said the decision to go with Parker was made after CV’s nine-inning 2-1 win over Mead in a loser-out earlier in the day.

“He was money today and he got us through six shutout innings,” he said. “And I couldn’t ask for anything more from a freshman.”

The Bears (21-3) led 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth. Matt Gabbert led off with a double and Ethan Moriniti was hit by a pitch. Stough tried to move the runners up, but his hard bunt found a hole to load the bases.

Josh Lawson’s chopper got through to bring in a run and Kyle Parkman’s soft liner to center fell in for another run.

That brought up Clay, who laced a line drive to right center to plate three to make it 7-0.

“I had been seeing the ball well all day,” the sophomore said. “I saw it right out of his hand it was going to be a fastball so I was sitting on it.”

In the district championship game, Richland (15-8) beat Hanford 5-1 at Richland.

Central Valley 2, Mead 1 (9): Michael Schwarz doubled in Ryan Clay in the top of the ninth and Matt Gabbert stuck out the side in the bottom half and the Bears (20-3) eliminated the Panthers (13-10) in a loser-out at Mead. Clay finished 3 for 4 and Schwarz went 2 for 5.

Gonzaga Prep 6, Walla Walla 5: Pinch-runner Declan Sklut scored on an error in the eighth inning and the Bullpups (13-10) eliminated the Blue Devils (8-15) in a loser-out earlier in the day at Mead HS.

Noah Drynan had three RBIs and Turk Riggin went 2 for 2 with two RBIs for the Pups. Ryun Cross got the win in relief with three shutout innings. He allowed two hits and struck out three.

District 8 3A

Mt. Spokane 1, Southridge 0: Stu Flesland struck out five in a complete game and the Wildcats (21-2) beat the visiting Suns (19-6) in the district second-place game to earn a berth to state.

Flesland allowed five hits and no walks and threw 58 of his 80 pitches for strikes. Jeter Schuerman plated Tyler Staley with a two-out double to left in the fourth inning.

Southridge beat Kennewick 7-5 in a loser-out game at Mt. Spokane earlier in the day.

District 5/7 2A crossovers

West Valley 6, East Valley (Yakima) 5: Louden Marsalis scored on a error in the bottom of the eighth and the Eagles (10-7) defeated the visiting Red Devils (8-9) to earn a berth to state. Bryan Andrews went 2 for 4 and drove in a pair of runs for West Valley.

Ellensburg 5, Pullman 1: Jadon Bugni went 2 for 3 with a home run and the Bulldogs (17-6) eliminated the visiting Greyhounds (16-5) to earn a berth to state.

District 6/7 1A crossovers

Chelan 5, Deer Park 0: Connor Wilson struck out seven in a three-hitter and the Mountain Goats (18-2) beat the visiting Stags (12-6) to advance to state.

Freeman 17, Okanogan 7: Spencer Curnow crushed a three-run home run and the Scotties (11-4) eliminated the visiting Bulldogs (3-8) to advance to state.

District 7 2B

Colfax 8, Asotin 6: The Bulldogs (19-4) combined for six runs in the sixth and seventh innings to down the Panthers (17-5) in the District 7 2B title game at Medical Lake HS. Both teams qualified for state. Eric Akesson had two hits for Colfax.

Northwest Christian 5, Chewelah 4: Gunner Kuehl went 3 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs and the Crusaders (9-7) eliminated the Cougars (16-5) in the third-place game.

Colfax 3, Chewelah 2: Nate Akesson struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings and the Bulldogs (19-4) beat the Cougars (16-5) in a semifinal earlier in the day.

Asotin 6, Northwest Christian 5: Carson Jurries walked with the bases loaded with two down in the bottom of the seventh to complete a three-run rally and the Panthers (13-3) beat the visiting Crusaders (8-7) in a semifinal earlier in the day. Devin Fry struck out 10 over six shutout innings for Asotin.

District 7/9

Almira/Coulee-Hartline 6, Colton 5: Dalton Kentner had 15 strikeouts over six innings and hit a two-run homer in a four-run third and the Warriors (18-1) beat the Wildcats (14-6) in the district title game Northwest Christian School. Both teams qualified for state.

Odessa 13, Pomeroy 2: Jett Nelson went 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs and the Tigers (15-3) beat the Pirates (12-8) in the third-place game. Both qualified for state.

Odessa 14, Selkirk 3: Marcus King went 2 for 3 with three RBIs and the Tigers (14-3) eliminated the Rangers (13-6) in a loser-out game earlier in the day.

Pomeroy 5, Cusick 3: Jace Gwinn went the distance and added a triple and the Pirates (12-7) eliminated the Panthers (10-8) in a loser-out game earlier in the day.

Idaho

Capital 7, Lake City 3: Josh Berg drove in a pair of runs and the Eagles (13-16) eliminated the Timberwolves (9-13) in an Idaho 5A state play-in game at Lewiston HS.

Cole Valley Christian 7, St. Maries 2: Micah Ferguson struck out five over seven innings and the Chargers (19-4) eliminated the Lumberjacks (9-5) in a 2A state play-in at Orofino HS.