No. 1 up first for Kamiak at state baseball regionals
Published 12:17 am Saturday, May 23, 2009
MUKILTEO — Before this week, the Kamiak High School baseball team’s longest road trip of the season was to Shoreline. Not exactly an epic adventure.
But for the Class 4A state baseball tournament, Kamiak was forced to embark on a much more substantial journey: a round-trip drive of nearly 500 miles to the Tri-Cities. The Knights (15-8) play the top-ranked Richland Bombers (20-2) at 10 a.m. today in a first-round regional game at Richland High.
A surprise state qualifier, unranked Kamiak was picked sixth in The Herald’s preseason Western Conference South Division coaches’ poll. But the team, loaded with a talented core of juniors, held its own in league competition and earned the district’s third and final state berth.
Now Kamiak, which made its only previous state appearance in 2002, faces its biggest test yet. Ranked No. 1 in 4A by Washington Baseball Poll, Richland is one of the Washington’s most consistently successful programs. The Bombers placed fourth last season and have won three state titles (1999, 2005, 2007).
This spring, Richland had seven all-league first-team players, led by senior shortstop Brett Jacobs. The Washington State University recruit recently was named co-MVP of the Columbia Basin Big Nine Conference’s Cascade Division. In 2008 Jacobs was the state 4A player of the year.
After practice Thursday, Kamiak players seemed impressed by Richland but not intimidated.
“It will be nice to get in there and just compete with them,” Kamiak junior Andrew Groves said. “We’re the underdog. No one expected us to do anything, so we’ll just go out there and do what we can do.”
The Richland-Kamiak winner plays the Kamiakin-University winner at 4 p.m. today in the regional final. The regional champion earns a trip to the state semifinals at Safeco Field.
As of May 14, Richland had five players hitting at least .400. Can anyone neutralize the Bombers’ potent lineup? Kamiak’s Groves, expected to start on the mound today, will give it a try.
“He’s excited to face the No. 1 team in the state,” 16th-year Kamiak coach Steve Merkley said.
Groves appears to be a good candidate to slow down Richland. The right-hander is 9-1 this season with one save in 652/3 innings. He has a 2.30 earned-run average, 59 strikeouts and 19 walks.
Relying mainly on a fastball, changeup and curveball, Groves throws fairly hard and keeps hitters off balance, Merkley said. Groves is not afraid to attack the strike zone and rely on his teammates.
“We have a pretty good, solid defensive team,” Kamiak junior Chris Guinn said, “and he tends to go more at the batters. He says, ‘Hey, I’m going to throw it here — hit it. I’ve got trust in my defense. We’re going to make the plays.’”
Although it certainly wants to knock off Richland and keep its season alive as long as possible, Kamiak will use this opportunity to gear up for what could be an exceptional 2010 run. The Knights have just four seniors and a whopping 13 juniors on their roster, so most of the team’s top contributors will be back.
“It will be a great experience for them to prepare for next year,” Merkley said.
Andrew Lauletta, a Kamiak senior, isn’t thinking about next year. He wants the Knights to reach their potential immediately.
“We’ve been working a lot harder,” Lauletta said, “just because we know that if you lose one you’re out now, so we’re just going to work as hard as we can. As long as we give it 100 percent, we’ll be happy with that.”
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
