MILL CREEK — In a 20-game season, it all came down to the finale for the Lake Stevens baseball team.
Lake Stevens needed a win to secure a district berth and got it with a 7-5 Wesco 4A victory over Jackson Wednesday afternoon at Jackson High School. It’s the Vikings’ 11th win that was determined by three or fewer runs in a season that saw Lake Stevens battle to the finish.
Now, the Vikings’ “second season” begins.
“We have a routine, and the older guys are used to our playoff routine. We just call it, ‘The second season,’” said Lake Stevens head coach Rodger Anderson. “It’s, ‘OK, the first season is done. Now we start our second season.’”
With Monroe’s 3-2 victory over Mount Vernon, the Bearcats, Cascade, Jackson and Lake Stevens all finish with identical 7-7 league records.
To figure out district seedings, the teams’ records against those common opponents was used, resulting in Lake Stevens (4-2 against Cascade, Jackson and Monroe) earning the No. 3 seed. Jackson had the worst record, at 2-4, giving the Timberwolves the No. 6 seed and a rematch at Lake Stevens in the first-round of the district tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Monroe and Cascade both finished 3-3, so the result of a preseason draw was used. The Bruins finished with the No. 4 spot and will host No. 5 Monroe in a loser-out, first-round game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
If the regular season is any indication, the 4A District 1 tournament should be highly competitive.
“I think it’s anything goes,” Anderson said. “… On any day, we’ve seen it all year, any team can beat anyone.
“I’ve been telling these guys all year long, we’ve lost so many one-run ball games, I kept telling them all we need to do is get in the playoffs and see what happens,” Anderson continued. “I know we’re a good team — we have some talent, we’ve got pitching, defense, we can score some runs — we just needed to get in the playoffs.”
A loss would have sent Lake Stevens (12-8 overall) to a district play-in game with Kamiak, which finished one game behind the foursome in the standings and was eliminated with the Vikings’ and Monroe victories. However, Lake Stevens entered Wednesday’s contest with the mindset that it needed the win.
“We came in feeling like this was a do-or-die game, a must-win game. We didn’t want to have to play again this week,” Anderson said. “We wanted to get business taken care of today. We tried not to get the players too hyped up or too nervous. We tried to make it like any other game, in a sense, but we know having the electricity in the dugout helps.”
The Lake Stevens dugout lit up in the top of the third inning after a two-run single by Skyler Swords.
After Jackson responded with a three-run bottom half of the inning, Lake Stevens plated four in the top of the fourth, capped by a hit by Jacob Eason that drove in three runs.
Swords, who earned the win on the mound for the Vikings, finished 2-for-4 and Justin Brown went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
“Sky was huge for us. Jacob Eason was huge for us,” Anderson said. “Every game it’s somebody different that steps up.”
Jackson, which had a district berth clinched and was playing for the second seed and the accompanying first-round bye, had scoring opportunities throughout the game. Jeremy Martin went 2-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored and Justin Hampson went 2-for-4 with a run scored to lead the Timberwolves (9-11).
“All of the teams are playing hard,” said Jackson head coach Kirk Nicholson. “Everybody’s looking for the same thing: Getting to next week. Both of us, if we win on Saturday, we get to next week. That’s all we’re trying to do. … I thought it was two teams that were competing today. The kids played hard.”
Nicholson praised senior starter Alex Cheesman, who struck out six batters in five innings. Cheesman scattered five hits, but was hurt by four Jackson errors in the game.
“I thought my starting pitcher came and gave me everything he’s got today,” Nicholson said. “He did fantastic.”
The Timberwolves, who weren’t immediately sure who they would face on Saturday, hope to come out strong against whoever their first-round opponent is.
“All I know is we’ve got to get ready for Saturday’s game, have our best guys ready to go and we’ll see how that works out,” Nicholson said. “Just get a little better every day.”
At Jackson H.S.
Lake Stevens 002 400 1 — 7 8 3
Jackson 003 001 1 — 5 5 4
Skyler Swords, Quinlan Hayes (6) and Andrew Bustard. Alex Cheesman, Colton Faddis (5), Justin Hardman (7) and Jeremy Martin. WP—Swords. LP—Cheesman. S—Hayes. Records—Lake Stevens 7-7 league, 12-8 overall. Jackson 7-7, 9-11.
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