Edmonds-Woodway downs Monroe in district baseball quarterfinal

EDMONDS — The Edmonds-Woodway baseball team went 15-6 overall and 10-2 in league play during the 2025 regular season to follow up a third-place finish in the state playoffs last year. They took the principles of those successful runs into their first district playoff game on Saturday afternoon, downing Monroe (8-13) 5-2 at home to advance to the semifinal game and secure one of the two wins they need to qualify for state.

The Bearcats will now need two wins to advance to state after coming up one game short of the tournament last season.

The differences in playoff experience between the two squads showed throughout the afternoon.

The Warriors seemed unbothered by the Bearcats drawing first blood in the second inning on a double by Brennan Sheppard (2-for-3, 2B, RBI). Edmonds-Woodway ace Lukas Wanke found two straight groundouts to strand Sheppard at third and close the inning.

The Warriors bided their time until, in the bottom of the third with two outs, they caught fire.

With Alexander Archie (0-for-1, run) on base after being hit in the hand by a pitch, the momentum changed for Edmonds-Woodway.

“The kids got a little bit hyped up and started stringing stuff together,” Edmonds-Woodway assistant coach Will Budnick said of the moment Archie was hit. “That kind of woke us up and we stayed engaged the rest of the game, that kind of spring-boarded us.”

“We run a lot, we steal a lot, and we felt if we had the base runners, we would be able to steal today.”

Indeed, the Warriors managed four straight singles and stole three bases, two of which came from Toshi Gilginas (2-for-3, 3 SB, 3 RBI, run). Those four consecutive hits came on a 6-for-22 day for the Warriors.

Monroe had a chance to stop the Warriors’ hot streak after they scored two runs, but a foul fly ball to deep right went uncaught. Gilginas and Finn Crawford (1-for-3, RBI) capitalized, adding two more runs on singles to take a commanding 4-1 lead.

That moment swiftly rendered Monroe’s “small ball” method ineffective, according to head coach Aaron Barstad. His team has just 21 extra-base hits on the season, as they typically rely on their star pitching staff of AJ Welch (3.07 ERA) and Caleb Campbell (1.46 ERA) to keep scores low while they gut out at-bats and run the base path hard.

With Welch on the mound (5 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), the Bearcats were able to contain Edmonds-Woodway to just one run the rest of the way, but the damage had been done.

“It’s difficult against really good teams like (Edmonds-Woodway) where you have to weigh the opportunity in front of you with also the risk of giving up outs just to move runners,” Barstad said, having sacrificed Jack Enrico on a bunt to get Welch to second base on what ended up being Monroe’s sole run of the first four innings.

For the Warriors, scoring four runs with two outs was just on par with how they’ve played this season.

Catcher Trevelyan Podawiltz (1-for-3) led the Warriors in RBI during the regular season and emphasized one word when describing how Edmonds-Woodway keeps its head in key moments.

“Our identity is grit,” Podawiltz said. “We knew we were gonna come back, never really worried.”

Both squads managed one more run each, as Monroe’s Andre Tarasov scored on a groundout while Gilginas brought in Andreas Simonsen (1-for-2, SB, 2 runs), both in the fifth. Wanke (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K) didn’t play his best game according to Budnick, but worked out of multiple jams to strand runners and give up just two runs to a scrappy Monroe squad.

Star relievers would close the final inning for both teams, as Monroe’s Maddox Bingham allowed one hit and no runs against three pitchers. Finn Crawford also saw three Bearcats, retiring the side in just 13 pitches to end the contest.

Barstad believes his team played to their potential, but just ran into a tough opponent in Edmonds-Woodway, which defeated Barstad’s squad 10-1 in April.

“I was really proud of our kiddos; they fought hard and competed at the plate. AJ threw as well as he has all year, and he deserved to win that game, it’s just against a more mature team like an Edmonds-Woodway,” Barstad said.

Despite the outcome, Barstad is “bullish on the remainder of the year.”

“This team is really young, they’ve been pushed all year. We just have to go out and play catch and throw strikes,” Barstad said.

His group is only guaranteed one more shot to do just that this season.

The Bearcats will face another Wesco South 3A foe in Mountlake Terrace on Tuesday in a loser-out matchup, while the Warriors will take on Wesco North 3A champion Stanwood for a spot in the state tournament.