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Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com

South Whidbey nearly pulls off upset of Cascade Conference champ Lakewood

By Jesse Geleynse
Herald Writer

ANACORTES -- The South Whidbey Falcons gave a stellar effort, but still fell short in their opening-round contest against Cascade Conference regular season champion Lakewood, 6-5 in eight innings Monday night at Daniels Field in Anacortes.

Jordan Stauffer's two-out RBI single scored Marcus Harkins with the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning after South Whidbey had rallied to tie the contest with three two-out runs in the top of the seventh.

Lakewood advances to today's winner-to-state game against Cascade Conference rival Archbishop Murphy at 2:00 p.m. at Daniels Field. South Whidbey plays Burlington-Edison at 5:00 p.m. today at Daniels Field in a loser-out contest.

"Coach Guetlin over at South Whidbey had a fairly young team to start the season, and the second half of the season he had them playing better ball," said Lakewood coach Larry Delaney after his team had squeaked out the win against a team they had beaten handily three times this season.

"They had some quality wins against some teams," he added. "We knew we were going to be in for a game. It's a good tune-up for where we're going to be tomorrow. I think this is going to really help refocus the kids."

Stauffer's hit would not have been possible had he been able to close out the Falcons in the top of the seventh inning.

The junior, who started for Lakewood, threw a gem for 62/3 innings. He struck out six while scattering six hits before back-to-back two-out singles in the seventh brought up Nick Tenuta, South Whidbey's three-hole hitter who had already struck out twice.

But Tenuta came through this time, singling home two runs and advancing to second on the throw home. Trapper Rawls followed him with an RBI double off reliever Harkins to tie the score.

"(I was) very tired," Stauffer said of his effort on the mound in the seventh. "But I knew I had to do something."

And he did, driving the first pitch he saw from South Whidbey reliever Luke Hodson over the centerfielder's head for the game-winning single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.

"We hit the ball hard well all day long," said Delany, whose team also hit into two double plays and stranded 11 runners. "That's the way things go sometimes. Fortunately we were able to come back and Jordan was able to get that big hit … We've got a little bit of time to mentally refocus and that's about it."

South Whidbey coach Dave Guetlin said he was proud of his team's comeback effort.

"I couldn't be prouder," he said. "We wanted (Lakewood)…we had it right there but it just wasn't meant to be."

The Cougars jumped out to a 2-0 lead as they opened the bottom of the first inning with four consecutive singles.

The Falcons broke through in the top of the fourth, when Mick Poynter drove an 0-2 curveball into the right-center field gap to score two and tie the contest.

Lakewood added two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth before South Whidbey rallied to tie.

Harkins finished 4-for-5 with two runs scored and Fabrice Lays was 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead Lakewood.

Lucas Yale, Robert Kirby and Tenuta each had two hits to pace South Whidbey.

At Daniels Field

South Whidbey 000 200 30 -- 5 10 2

Lakewood 200 021 01 -- 6 11 0

Adams, Rawls (5), Hodson (8) and Mannie. Stauffer, Harkins (7), Grafenauer (8) and Etchey. WP--Grafenauer. LP--Hodson. 2B--Poynter (SW); T. Rawls (SW). Records--South Whidbey 6-16. Lakewood 17-3.

Cedarcrest 5, Lynden 1: At Anacortes, Craig Chittenden's first-inning triple scored two and Kyle Olson added an RBI single as the Red Wolves defeated the Lions in 2A District 1 Tournament first-round action. Olson earned the win on the mound with a complete-game performance.

At Volunteer Field

Lynden 000 000 1 -- 1 3 3

Cedarcrest 210 200 x -- 5 6 1

Archbishop Murphy 7, Burlington-Edison 2: At Anacortes, Konrad Garbrick hit a first inning two-run home run and Alex Ash went 2-for-4 with two RBI as the Wildcats defeated the Tigers to advance to the semifinals of the 2A District 1 Tournament.

At Daniels Field

Archbishop Murphy 330 001 0 -- 7 9 2

Burlington-Edison 000 002 0 -- 2 6 1

Hanley, Clancy (6) and Ash. Hanson, Jensen (3) and Holmkvist. 2B--J. Robinett (AM), Ash (AM), McLeod (BE) 2. HR--Graybrick (AM). Records--A. Murphy 15-5 overall. B-E 14-6.

Sehome 5, Bellingham 3: At Anacortes, the Mariners defeated their cross-town rivals to advance to the semifinals of the 2A District 1 tournament where they will take on Cedarcrest.