EVERETT — Edmonds-Woodway got the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth inning and then preserved its lead in the top of the seventh with a defensive play at the plate to beat Snohomish 3-2 on Thursday afternoon in the third-place game of the Class 4A District 1 baseball tournament.
Snohomish put the potential tying run at third with two outs in the seventh, but base runner Garrett Stich was tagged out trying to score on a pitch that bounced about 10 feet away from Warriors catcher Chantz Justice. After retrieving the ball, Justice flipped underhand to pitcher Tate Budnick covering the plate, and Budnick applied the tag.
Edmonds-Woodway had trailed 2-0 early in the game, but battled back with two runs in the third inning and the eventual winning run in the fifth.
“It was a fun,” said Warriors coach Dan Somoza. “We got down early, but our team played hard, we kept going at it and we got the win at the end.”
With the victory, Edmonds-Woodway will host Redmond, the No. 3 team from the KingCo, at 4 p.m. Monday in a regional play-in game. The winner advances to the state regional tournament.
In a game that was 2-2 through four innings, Edmonds-Woodway went ahead in the fifth after loading the bases with no outs. Brandon Mitchell led off with a double into the left field corner, Dominic Marinez walked and Matt Gerhardt beat out a sacrifice bunt for a single.
Jason Smarr then lashed a single up the middle for one run, though Marinez was cut down trying to score on a strong throw to the plate by Snohomish center fielder Nolan Smith. Edmonds-Woodway’s other two base runners were left stranded as Panthers starter Ryan Sandifer got the final two outs on a strikeout and a fly out.
Budnick, a senior right-hander pitching on four days rest, gave up six hits, but never more than one an inning. He also struck out five and walked one.
Though “it wasn’t his best stuff,” Budnick battled well, Somoza said. “We talk about bending but not breaking, and (Budnick) didn’t break,” Somoza added. “We want to minimize the big innings and he was able to do that.”
The bottom three in Edmonds-Woodway’s batting order — Cameron Sharpe, Mitchell and Marinez — had four of the team’s six hits and scored all three runs. Smarr had two RBI.
Snohomish struck first in the top of the second with an unearned run. With one out, Smith singled up the middle, stole second, took third on an infield out and scored on an infield error. The Panthers added another run in the third with a leadoff single by Brad Morgan, a sacrifice bunt, an infield out and a balk by Budnick.
Edmonds-Woodway answered in the bottom of the third on singles by Sharpe and Marinez, and a two-out infield fielding error that allowed two runs to score.
At Everett Memorial Stadium
Snohomish 011 000 0 — 2 6 2
E-W 002 010 x — 3 6 2
Ryan Sandifer and Ben Dmochowsky. Tate Budnick and Garrison Krohn, Chantz Justice (2). WP—Budnick (6-1). LP—Sandifer (7-2). 2B—Brandon Mitchell (EW). 3B—Nolan Smith (S). Records—Snohomish 15-8 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 16-7.
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