Sumner falls to top-seeded Eastlake in 4A state baseball championship game Saturday

Sumner loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning of Saturday night’s Class 4A state championship game against top-seeded Eastlake at Funko Field in Everett. Trailing by three runs, a golden opportunity to claw back into the game dangled right in front of the Spartans.

And then, poof, it disappeared. Eastlake pitcher Dylan Skolfield, a Washington State commit, masterfully worked out of the jam, inducing a soft popup in foul territory before striking out the next two Sumner batters.

For the most part, that was the only glimmer of hope Skolfield would allow the Spartans the rest of the way. Eastlake held onto the momentum and closed the door, beating Sumner 13-1 and winning the state title.

“It was a battle,” Skolfield said. “It was tough. I trusted my guys behind me, my coaches trusted me and my teammates trusted me and I was able to fight through it.”

Sumner center fielder Jay Mentink said not capitalizing on the bases-loaded opportunity stung.

“It’s tough,” he said. “But I can’t recall a game where we haven’t fought back in the final innings. We still have belief in ourselves regardless but yeah, that’s tough. Eastlake’s a really good team and we needed some runs there to stay in the game.

“They’re deep, they’re solid throughout. They had timely hitting throughout and we didn’t and I think that’s what really made up the game.”

Eastlake jumped out to a quick lead on a Jack Edmonds RBI double in the first inning, before designated hitter Tyler Griffin drove in another two runs with a single into left field in the top of the second inning, giving Eastlake a 3-0 lead.

Sumner coach Casey Adcox went to his bullpen in the second inning after starter Joey Kosko was tagged for the first three runs. Eastlake added to its lead in the fifth, scoring runs on a Blake Borup single and a Sumner wild pitch. Things unraveled further in the seventh inning; Eastlake batted around the order and added eight more runs.

Adcox said Eastlake’s lineup was as good as advertised.

“Really good,” he said. “Really aggressive. Even when they’re fooled, they have ways of finding barrel. We knew that.”

In addition to having one of the state’s most dangerous lineups — Eastlake outhit Sumner 14 to eight — Eastlake coach Frank Smith had another nice luxury on his hands this spring: having two Pac-12 bound pitchers he could use in consecutive days.

A day earlier, Oregon State commit Bryce Johnson pitched a gem for the Wolves in a semifinal win. Then in Saturday’s championship game, Eastlake trotted out Skolfield, committed to WSU. How’s that for a 1-2 punch?

Sumner ends its season with a runner-up finish in the program’s first state championship game appearance, after beating West Valley, Richland and valley rival Puyallup to reach the title game.

“This team is talented,” Adcox said. “It’s the kind of team that makes you feel good wherever you go, because they’re doing things the right way and they’re going to go be great students, people, athletes.

“The standard is rising. The bar has been raised, slowly but surely at Sumner, all the way across the board, but here, too. We’ve got one more domino to knock down. Hopefully we can do that.”

3A championship: No. 2 Lincoln 6, No. 4 Lake Washington 3

Small ball is still alive, despite its dwindling popularity at the professional level. In high school, though? Laying down bunts and advancing base runners is still working just fine. Just ask the Lincoln (Seattle) Lynx, who sparked a six-run third inning thanks in large part to four bunts, en route to a 6-3 win in the title game.

The scoring barrage opened with a bunt from first baseman Bjorn Johnson, which the Lake Washington third baseman sailed by the first baseman, allowing leadoff hitter Erik Petrie to score all the way from first.

After a Billy Versaw bloop single scored another to make it 2-0, Lincoln put the squeeze on. Right fielder Marshall Longtin laid down a bunt, scoring TJ Armstrong from third, who got under the catcher’s tag to make it 3-0. A single from Nicholas Saelens scored two more, before Petrie — batting for the second time in the inning — drove in one more with another single, giving Lincoln a 6-0 lead.

Lake Washington clawed back into the game in the bottom of the frame, scoring three runs to cut the deficit in half, but Lincoln’s lead ultimately proved too much to overcome.

The state championship is the first for Lincoln, a Seattle public school near the University of Washington, which reopened in 2019.