Pullman takes tumble

YAKIMA – The Pullman Greyhounds came to the State 2A baseball semifinals Friday knowing there was only one way to keep Sehome from joining them as the only team to win two state titles since 2000.

That was to beat the defending-champion Mariners.

It was easier said than done. The pitching-thin Greyhounds fell apart in the late innings, dropping a 21-5 decision at Yakima County Stadium.

The third loss in a row for Pullman in state tournament play ends the Greyhounds’ hopes of a third state title since 2001 and drops them into a consolation game this morning against Cedarcrest, which lost 3-1 to East Valley (Yakima).

The high-scoring Mariners broke open a tight game with a six-run fifth inning, pooling four hits and three walks, and added 11 in the sixth inning.

Sehome has scored 45 runs in three 2008 state tournament games after scoring 31 in winning the 2007 title. The 2A record for runs in a game is 27.

Sehome starter Jared Vila had a no-hitter through 4 1/3 innings, working his way out of trouble in the third and fourth innings before surrendering a single to left field to Tyler Druffel, who later scored on an error.

Druffel kept Pullman close for four innings – allowing just one hit – before losing the range with his off-speed assortment of deliveries. The senior lefty threw a staggering 146 pitches before being lifted with the bases loaded and no one out in the sixth.

State 1A

Rochester 13, Freeman 2: Taking advantage of every opportunity, the Warriors defeated the highly regarded Scotties in the semifinals.

Rochester, the 2A runner-up in 2006, will play Kalama for the title today at 4 p.m. Freeman will play Naches Valley in the consolation game at 10 a.m.

Rochester got stellar pitching from southpaw Luke Shellhammer. The tall senior allowed just four hits and helped himself with a pair of doubles.

Two of the staples of the Scotties’ one-loss run to the semifinals – defense and run production – were missing.

Besides a struggling offense, the Scotties committed five errors. This from a squad that scored 40 runs in its last three contests and yielded three runs or fewer 10 times during the season.

“We didn’t play within ourselves,” Freeman coach Chad Ripke said. “Today was very uncharacteristic of our season. Our pitching and defense carried us a long way, but not today.”

Rochester broke open a 3-2 game with three runs in the fourth and closed the door with six in the sixth inning.

Freeman had plenty of chances – getting men on board in five of the seven innings – before the game got out of hand. It had one man caught stealing and another caught at the plate trying to advance on a fly out to center field. The Scotties also left five men on base.

State 1B

Colton 4, Touchet 3: Chase Druffel slapped a grounder off a drawn-in Touchet first baseman in the top of the sixth, scoring Lat Lutskas with the winning run for the Wildcats.

Lutskas led off the inning with a triple to right-center field as Colton made it to the final for the eighth time in school history but the first since winning the Class B championship in 1980.

The Wildcats will play Lake Quinault, which defeated Northport 8-7, for the championship at 4 p.m.

After ending a 14-year state tournament drought in 2005, the Wildcats have qualified three times in four years. The win snapped an eight-game state tournament losing streak.

Druffel’s single made a winner of junior pitcher Nick Heitstuman, who scattered nine Touchet hits with an assortment of off-speed deliveries.

“We knew they could hit so we wanted to keep it outside and change speeds as much as we can,” Heitstuman said.

Colton took a 3-0 lead in the second with just two hits and appeared to be ready to break it open before the inning ended with the bases loaded. Bernie Druffel and Nate Jacobs had RBI singles and Andrew Tietjen had a sacrifice fly.

Trailing 3-1 in the sixth, Touchet got two runs on an RBI groundout and a safety squeeze, but Heitstuman induced a weak pop fly to end the inning.

Lake Quinault 8, Northport 7: The Elks ended the Mustangs’ title dream a game short for a second straight year.

Northport will play Touchet today at 10 a.m. in the consolation game.

Junior catcher Chris Christensen had two triples and a home run for the Elks.

Dillon Dombrowski had two hits and three RBI for Northport. Losing pitcher Tucker Gugliemieno had two RBIs.