4A SPSL leader Puyallup rallies past Sumner in matchup of top South Sound programs

Puyallup High School baseball is closing in on another Class 4A South Puget Sound League championship.

The league-leading Vikings extended their current winning streak to 11 on Tuesday afternoon, and can now clinch the 4A SPSL crown as early as Wednesday on the road at South Kitsap.

But, it took rallying past valley rival Sumner on the road — in a game that featured a combined five home runs — for the Vikings to extend their lead atop the 4A SPSL standings.

The Spartans led through three frames before Puyallup tied the game in the fourth, took the decisive lead in the fifth and held on with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-3 victory.

Oregon commit Jacob Bresnahan — who recently struck out 19 of 23 batters faced in a complete game shutout of defending 4A state champion Olympia, and has shut down opponents throughout the spring — worked around a leadoff single and a one-out walk, striking out a pair of Puyallup batters in a scoreless first.

Bresnahan tossed two more scoreless frames before the Vikings got on the board with one out in the fourth.

“We knew we had our work cut out for us with Bresnahan on the mound, and we’ve been preparing for the past four days to face him,” Vikings coach Marc Wiese said. “I thought our guys really competed at the plate.”

Spartans left fielder Bradley Carl later sent the first pitch he saw soaring over the fence in right for a leadoff home run, giving Sumner a quick 1-0 lead in the first.

Puyallup starter Hunter Grasser responded by striking out six consecutive batters, but the Spartans stretched the early lead to two runs on another solo homer that cleared the right field fence from Peyton Nixon in the third.

The Spartans loaded the bases after that, but Grasser calmly worked out of the jam, ending the inning with an infield pop up.

Back-to-back home runs to center from Puyallup’s Mason Pike and Gage Thompson evened the score minutes later in the top of the fourth.

The Vikings added three more runs before Sumner answered.

Jackson Copeland led off the fifth with a double, and scored not long after on a RBI single from Tristan Ringrose.

Copeland doubled again with two outs in the sixth facing Sumner’s bullpen, driving in both pinch runner Ripken Renner and Donte Grant, and finished 2-for-4 with the two RBI.

Puyallup tallied one more run in the top of the seventh, when Pike scored on a bases-loaded walk by Jeven Patterson to make it 6-3.

Meanwhile, Grasser continued to complete efficient innings, at one point retiring six straight between the fourth, fifth and sixth before Brayden Adcox tallied Sumner’s final run of the afternoon on a solo homer with two outs in the sixth.

“It was a big win, especially with this many lefties in their (lineup) and having a short porch to right field, getting outs was a big thing,” Grasser said.

Grasser completed a quality outing for Puyallup, allowing six hits, the three runs and striking out nine while walking two across 6 2/3, and earned the win.

The right-hander is now 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings in four appearances this spring.

“That’s Hunter Grasser,” Wiese said. “Every time he goes out, he’s going to give you a chance to win.”

Sumner loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh — Jay Mentink, Jaxen Mentink and Bresnahan reached on base hits — and sent the potential game-winning run to the plate, but Vikings reliever Michael LeJeune ended the game with a groundout.

Bresnahan completed 5 2/3 frames for the Spartans, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out six and walking two.

Sumner (13-6, 12-5 4A SPSL) wraps up the regular season with a league game at Bethel on Thursday.

Puyallup (16-2, 15-1) has three league games remaining this week, including the matchup with South Kitsap on Wednesday and a pair of contests against Curtis on Thursday and Saturday.

The Vikings also have a meeting with undefeated 4A North Puget Sound League front runner Tahoma scheduled next week.

Puyallup’s only two losses this spring are a 3-1 loss to 4A state contender Eastlake on the road midway through March, and the first meeting with Sumner late last month, which the Spartans won, 5-3.

Sumner took a three-run lead in the top of the first in that matchup, and the Vikings never caught up, the offense limited by a quality complete game performance from Bresnahan.

Puyallup’s victory in the rematch gives the Vikings an important win against another top tier program in a stacked 4A SPSL — which includes several teams considered among the best in 4A this spring.

“It gets us ready for the playoffs,” Grasser said of the win.