SNOHOMISH — After Snohomish baseball fell behind 2-0 to Bellevue in the WIAA 3A State Baseball opening round on Tuesday, Enzo Porletto could hear the Bellevue fans pining for a rain delay. Meanwhile, even in the wet conditions, there was no place the Panthers would rather be.
“They obviously didn’t want to play in the rain. We wanted to keep going,” Porletto said. “We play through this. We play on a dirt field every day. They play on turf. They can’t handle it in the end. I mean, I think we just wanted to keep going at them.”
Snohomish cut the deficit to 2-1 in the fifth, but stranded the potential tying run on third base. Heading to the sixth, with the rain slowly picking up, they needed one small break to keep their season alive.
After Chase Clark worked a full-count walk and got bunted over to second, the No. 14 seed Panthers (17-8) pulled through with back-to-back hits from Deyton Wheat and Reve LeRoux to take a 3-2 lead before tacking on a few more insurance runs and securing a 6-2 win against the No. 19 seed Wolverines (13-12).
“Just keep trusting the process,” Snohomish coach Nick Hammons said. “We’ve talked about it all year. It’s been a long road. … Even though we had a tough time offensively, they stuck to our middle backside approach, and we had a couple huge hits and huge moments, and it was the difference for us.”
After he was the hero in Snohomish’s district consolation game against Monroe on Saturday, Wheat (2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI) — playing just his second varsity game — stepped up in the clutch yet again with a game-tying RBI double to score Clark (1-for-3, 1 R) and make it 2-2.
In the next at-bat, LeRoux (1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI) focused on just putting the ball in play, knowing he needed to get Wheat home. With the infield playing high, he did just enough to poke the ball over their heads and make it 3-2. By the time Wheat crossed home plate, the drizzle had turned into a downpour.
Finally, the Bellevue fans got the delay they wanted. Just not at the right time.
“It was perfect,” LeRoux said. “We got ahead. We knew we were gonna win the whole thing. We had way more energy. When they (Bellevue) were sitting in their (dugout), we had the energy. We got it done.”
Snohomish’s Reve LeRoux yells after making it to first base during the opening round 3A state game against Bellevue on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
After the rainfall slowed about 15 minutes later, the teams trotted back out to the field, and Porletto (2-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI) picked up right where Snohomish left off, ripping a double to score LeRoux and pad the lead to 4-2. The Panthers managed to load the bases and bring two more runs across to head to the top of the seventh, needing just three outs to move on.
Relief pitcher Rider Walsh (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K) allowed just one base-runner in the frame, retiring the other three batters to push the Panthers into the second round.
“Going back onto the mound, I just knew they couldn’t stop us,” Walsh said. “There was no doubt in my mind we won that game (looking at) their body language and ours. We just couldn’t be stopped.”
Snohomish’s Rider Walsh throws a pitch during the opening round 3A state game against Bellevue on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bellevue took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third with an RBI single from Brody Gayte and a sacrifice fly from Dylan Leaird. Snohomish put a runner on base in both the third and fourth innings, but did not get on the board until the fifth.
Porletto led off the frame with a double after starting down 0-2 in the count and making contact on the 2-2 pitch. He reached third on a passed ball, then scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-1.
The Wolverines threatened to expand their lead in the top of the sixth after Snohomish catcher Landon Klein (0-for-3, 1 RBI) dropped a pop-up from Bellevue shortstop Jessie Gonzalez in foul territory that would have ended the inning. Instead, Panthers pitcher Trevor Vorderbruggen walked Gonzalez to load the bases.
With Vorderbruggen (5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K) fading after an otherwise strong outing, Walsh came in and retired the first batter he faced to get out of the jam.
Snohomish followed up with their five-run frame to jump ahead and never looked back. The Panthers face No. 3 Kennewick at Roy Johnson Field in Kennewick in the second round on Saturday.
“I think as a team, we go down and we don’t give up,” Vorderbruggen said. “We’re a scrappy team, and I think we have a chance to beat Kennewick. I think we are a very good team, and I think our rankings don’t say that.”
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