4A BASEBALL: Snohomish headed back to state championship game
Published 9:52 pm Friday, May 23, 2008
The Panther are back in the state championship game for the second year in a row after a wild 3-2 win over Olympia at Safeco Field.
Snohomish score three runs—all unearned—in the first, then were stymied by Olmpia’s WSU-bound lefty Adam Conley the rest of the way. Conley retired 15 straight and faced the minimum over the final six innings, but was ejected on the final out of the top of the seventh when he tackled Snohomish pinch runner Ryan Lyski after Lyski slid hard into home plate attempting to score on a wild pitch.
Derek Jones went five and a third innings for the win, pitching himself out of a number of jams throughout the night.
Ethan Hargrave pitched the final inning and a third for the save, striking out the last two batters of the game. Olympia got the leadoff runner on in the seventh when Hargrave hit Carter Manning. Manning was thrown out by Tom Chandler trying to steal, but Corwin Patis then walked to put the potential tying run back on base. Patis stole second, but went no farther thanks to Hargrave’s two strikeouts. The last out of the game was pinch hitter Chris Womac, who was batting in place of Conley, the Bears’ cleanup hitter who had been ejected.
The Panthers face Kentlake, who beat last year’s state champ, Richland, in the other semifinal.
UPDATE ON BENCH-CLEARING INCIDENT:
Having had a chance to talk to coaches and Olympia pitcher Adam Conley, here’s a little more about what went down at home plate that led to both benches emptying and Conley getting tossed.
According to photographers from The Herald and The Olympian, their frame-by-frame shots show Snohomish runner Ryan Lyski grabbing Conley by the jersey and pulling him down as he got up. Conley, who then threw Lyski to the ground, claims he was also punched in the ribs though it’s unclear in photos whether any punches were thrown, while Snohomish coach Kim Hammons said he saw no punches.
Both coaches agreed that this was a first for them at the high school level, and Hammons praised the Olympia coaches and players for their actions on the field.
“To the tribute to Olympia’s coaching staff and their players, the kids that did come in, it really wasn’t anything flagrant, there was no trash talking whatsoever,” he said. “It was ‘Hey, let’s stay cool guys.’ They grabbed their own players, they didn’t do anything malicious to our guys. They pretty much said, ‘Hey, let’s stay calm and move on.’”
Conley’s take on the play?
“The throw was there on time, I put the tag on him on time, and when he came up he was holding me and hitting me in the ribs,” he said. “I don’t feel like I lost my composure. I feel like I was playing with heart, and I’m not going to take that.”
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Top of seventh
Well this just got interesting. With two outs and pinch runner Ryan Lyski on third, Adam Conley threw a pitch in the dirt that got by his catcher, Jim Norman. Norman retrieved the ball and threw to Conley, who blocked the plate and tagged Lyski for the third out.
Conley seemed to not like Lyski’s hard slide, because he got up and threw Lyski to the ground, causing both benches to empty. Coaches from both teams did a good job of getting their teams separated quickly however, keeping the incident from escalating.
That got Conley tossed (not sure about Lyski, as he would have left the lineup anyway to get Brian Wolfe back in). Conley, the Bears’ cleanup hitter, is due up fourth in the seventh, so that could cost Olympia if it gets a runner on.
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Bottom of sixth
Olympia is finally on the score board after a two-run sixth. Kramer Champlin hit a solo home run just over the hand-operated score board in left, and that was followed by a Damon Porter double down the left-field line. That ended Derek Jones’ night.
Justin Tanner, who was running for Porter, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.
3-2 Snohomish heading to the seventh.
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Top of sixth
Another one-two-three inning for Adam Conley, this one coming on three straight strikeouts.
Snohomish is still up 3-0 though.
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Bottom of fifth
Snohomish is finding all sorts of ways to get outs in this game. With one out and a runner on first, Olmypia’s Ricky Maxwell hit a potential double play ball, but after recording the out at second, Snohomish second baseman Bryant Robbins’ throw got past first baseman Brian Wolfe. Maxwell headed for second, but the throw hit off a railing that kept it from going into a camera well and bounced right back to Wolfe, who threw the runner out to end the inning.
Add that play to two pickoffs, and out at home plate, and six walks, and you’ve got one strange shutout going for Derek Jones right now.
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Top of fifth
Three up, three down once again for Mr. Conley. This guy is dialed in right now, but can his teammates get him any runs?
Still 3-0
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Bottom of fourth
So if I told you that Snohomish pitcher Derek Jones had walked six and given up two hits through four innings, would you believe that he’s still pitching a shutout?
Well he is.
Olympia got two more runners on via the walk, but couldn’t capitalize, and it’s still 3-0 Panthers. That’s six stranded runners through four for the Bears.
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Top of fourth
Another one-two-three inning for Olympia’s Adam Conley. That’s nine in a row for the lefty since Snohomish scored three unearned runs in the first.
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Bottom of third
Derek Jones just pitched himself out of quite a jam, and the Panthers still lead 3-0 after three innings. Olympia’s Preetam Talukdar led off the inning with a double, which was followed by a Carter manning walk. Both runners advanced on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, giving the Bears runners on second and third with no outs.
Snohomish got its first out when third baseman Braden Allen threw out Talukdar on a ground out. Jones then got a strikeout and a ground out to end the inning.
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Top of third
Snohomish goes down in order again in the third. It looks like Olympia’s Adam Conley has settled down nicely after Shohomish’s three-run first.
Something of an odd note: all three of Conley’s second-inning outs were flyouts, and all three in the third were ground outs.
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End of 2nd, Snohomish leads 3-0
Derek Jones walked another batter, making it three through two innings, but got out of the inning without a problem.
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Top of second
Olmypia’s Adam Conley made quick work of the Panthers in the second, getting three straight fly outs.
Still 3-0 Snohomish as we head to the bottom of the second.
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End of 1, 3-0 Snohomish
Derek Jones walked the first two Olympia batters, but got out of a jam with back-to-back pickoffs. First, catcher Tom Chandler picked the runner off second, then moments later Jones picked the runner of first.
Those plays saved a least a run, because Rick Maxwell, the batter during both pickoffs, singled into left center.
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Top of first, 3-0 Snohomish
After his team’s error-filled 5-1 win over Meadowdale, Kelso coach Scot Meeker noted that the Safeco Field infield was faster than these kids are used to, and that might be playing a factor in the errors. Apparently that effect is carrying over to this game, because Snohomish just jumped ahead 3-0 thanks to a pair of Olympia errors on hard hit balls.
Braden Allen and Derek Jones got things started with a pair of one-out singles. With two outs, Tom Chandler reached on a error, then Allen and Jones scored on another error when Travis Cuykendall hit a ground ball to second base.
Cameron Woolsey, who was Chandler’s courtesy runner, then scored on a delayed steal when Olympia’s catcher threw to second with Cuykendall running.
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We’re just a few minutes away from the 4A semifinal between Snohomish and Olympia. The winner will face Kentlake, which scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to beat defending champ Richland 5-4.
Snohomish will start WSU-bound lefty Derek Jones (6-2, 1.75 ERA), while the Bears will counter with a lefty of their own, senior Adam Conley (8-0, 0.50 ERA).
