EVERETT — The Edmonds-Woodway High School baseball team has spent much of this spring shutting down opponent after opponent.
The Warriors entered Tuesday with eight shutout victories under their belt and they hadn’t allowed more than one run over their past six games.
The pitching dominance continued against Ferndale with a state berth up for grabs, and E-W provided some offensive fireworks, to boot.
Jens Simonsen tossed a no-hitter and delivered a mercy-rule walkoff at the plate as the second-seeded Warriors rolled to a 10-0 victory in five innings over the sixth-seeded Golden Eagles in a winner-to-state Class 3A District 1 semifinal contest Tuesday at Funko Field.
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“I’m really proud of this team,” E-W coach Dan Somoza said. “We have outstanding senior leadership and they’ve just led us the whole time. I’ve got a great coaching staff. We’re just excited for another chance at a district championship. Things are going great for us this year. We want to keep it going.”
The victory sealed up a fifth consecutive state berth for Wesco 3A/2A South champion E-W (18-5), which advances to face ninth-seeded Mountlake Terrace in the district title game 1 p.m. Saturday at Funko Field. It’s the fourth time the Warriors have reached a district title game over the past five postseasons.
Edmonds-Woodway players mob captain Jens Simonsen after he ended the game via the slaughter rule with a double against Ferndale in a Wesco 3A District 1 semifinal on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, at Funko Field in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ferndale (17-5) falls to a winner-to-state consolation bracket matchup with fourth-seeded Monroe at 4 p.m. Thursday at Monroe High School.
Simonsen’s only blemish on the day was a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth, but the senior left-hander still ended up facing the minimum 15 batters.
“He was throwing all his pitches for strikes,” Somoza said. “… He came out and competed and had a great focus. It was fun to watch him pitch. You get a no-hitter in a winner-to-state game, that’s awesome. I’ll take that any time.”
Simonsen struck out five of the first eight batters he faced and had just two three-ball counts in an efficient outing.
“It means everything,” Simonsen said of throwing a no-hitter to clinch a state berth. “We’ve been putting in work all year. … I just had to go out there and do my thing for my boys.”
The Warriors took little time to back Simonsen’s stellar outing and jumped on the Golden Eagles for seven runs over the first three innings.
Drew Warner opened the scoring with an opposite-field RBI double to right in the first. Thomas Schults added on in the second with an RBI single and the Warriors scored two more after an error at first allowed runners to score from second and third.
Edmonds-Woodway’s Grant Oliver ranges to his left and throws out a runner on a grounder against Ferndale in a Wesco 3A District 1 semifinal on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, at Funko Field in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Grant Oliver ripped an RBI double into right field and came around to score later on a wild pitch and Diego Escandon worked a bases-loaded walk in the third.
The Warriors loaded the bases in the fifth on two singles and a walk and Simonsen followed with a fly ball to left-center that bounced off the left fielder’s glove and allowed all three runners to come across.
Schults reached base in all four plate appearances, including three hits. Oliver had two hits, a stolen base and scored twice and Toshi Gilginas walked twice and scored two runs for E-W, which had all nine batters reach base and eight provide an RBI or run scored.
“There’s not much we didn’t do right today,” Somoza said. “We’re a great team and that’s what I love about these guys. They’re a group of guys. There’s no superstars. It’s just one big team.”
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