Central Valley's Joe Pitts helps 'Team St. Helens' to consolation game win at all-state baseball; 'Team Adams' wins title game
Jun. 25—YAKIMA — Joe Pitts of Central Valley went 2 for 2 with a double and two RBIs and Team St. Helens beat Team Baker 9-3 in the consolation game at the Washington State Coaches Association all-state games at Parker-Fuller Field on Sunday.
"It's fun playing in one of these, you don't have much to worry about — just having fun," Pitts said. "I was the only kid from my school so it was great to represent."
"It was awesome — awesome weekend, awesome experience," Deer Park's Cole Krepcik said. "It's really cool for this to get put back together again since COVID."
St. Helens jumped on Baker starter Hunter Lutman (W.F. West) for two runs in the first inning. Carsen Mann (Lake Washington) led off with a single through the hole and scored on a double by Pitts. Camden Gillespie (Lake Washington) was hit by a pitch and Jeb Enlish (Enumclaw) followed with a single to plate Pitts.
St. Helens loaded the bases in the second on a pair of walks and a double by Mann and a run scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.
Krepcik, who was named 1A state player of the year, drew a two-out walk in the fourth and scored on a two-base outfield error to put St. Helens up 4-0.
"It was really a cool honor," Krepcik said. "I got surprised a few days before by my parents. It was really cool to hear. I'm just really honored to win it."
St. Helens added five runs in seventh. Enlish had a two-run single and Pitts added an RBI base hit.
St. Helens pitcher Tristan Aasland (Mt. Si) threw three innings of two-hit shutout relief and struck out seven. Chewelah's Zach Bowman pitched the last two innings and allowed three runs on five hits.
Shadle Park's Andrew Fox went 0 for 2 and Ferris' Castle Keaton went 1 for 2 with a double.
In the championship game, Blaine's Axel Puls hit the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning and Team Adams edged Team Rainier 3-2.
"It was nice to win tight game," Mt. Spokane catcher Rece Schuerman said. "Good pitchers on both sides."
Adams trailed 2-0 entering the bottom of the fifth. Puls and Zack Hampson (University Prep) walked, then Schuerman drilled a double to left center to drive in Puls. Hampson hurried home on a fielding error to tie it 2-2.
"That felt good, especially since the first day I struggled a little bit," Schuerman said. "It was nice to find a barrel."
Adams broke the tie with two down in the sixth. Logan Shepherd (Olympia) doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Puls.
"It was super fun," Schuerman said. "Nice hanging out with guys I don't always get to play with, but I know just by playing against them all the time."
University's Tyler Boden, who threw three no-hitters earlier this season, was the designated hitter for Team Adams and went 0 for 2 with a walk.
U-Hi's Dominic Longo was selected to participate for Team Rainier but was unavailable to play.
Honors
At the awards banquet Saturday night, four were inducted into the WSBCA hall of fame: Tim Kuykendall (Auburn, Curtis, Auburn Riverside), Pat Swapp (Mount Vernon, Anacortes), Mark Zender (O'Dea, Kentwood) and Larry Delaney (Lakewood). Wyatt Tonkin of Shorewood was presented with the Frank Osborne lifetime achievement award.
