The Kentlake High Falcons finished one of its best baseball seasons with a second-place trophy in the Class 4A state championship tournament.
Puyallup edged Kentlake 3-2 for the state title Saturday at Safeco Field.
Jordon Wright took the mound for the Falcons going five innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits, striking out five and walking seven. Zach Archibald pitched in relief for Kentlake.
Kentlake’s two runs were scored by Jacob Butler and Nik Henderickson. They each had one hit in the game as did Jayke Chavez, Caleb Jamie, Shane Nagel and J.J. Gerarden. Nagel hit a double and drove in a run. Jamie also had one RBI.
In the bottom of the second, the Falcons fell behind the Vikings 2-0. Kentlake evened the game with two runs in the third. Puyallup scored in the fourth what turned out to be the winning run.
The Falcons closed the season with a North Puget Sound League record of 12-2 and 19-7 overall. Kentlake won the NPSL Cascade Division.
SEMIFINAL
In the semifinal game at Safeco, Kentlake and rival Kentwood lined up for the ticket to the championship game.
The Falcons beat the Conks 5-4.
Jamie was the winning pitcher going six innings, giving up two runs on five hits, striking out seven and walking two.
Kentwood’s Dyson Johnson pitched five innings giving up three runs on four hits, striking out seven and walking four. Chase Martin came in relief and had the loss. He gave up two runs on two hits. Tyler Tan also pitched in relief for the Conks.
Kentlake’s Butler and Chavez scored in the first innings off a hard-hit Nagel ground ball to left.
After the first inning, Johnson settled into a groove keeping the Falcons off the board for the next four frames.
In the bottom of the third, Matt Franceschina scored for Kentwood off a Tre’Sean Steele double to center. Steele tied the game in the fifth when he drove in Kenny Wilsey.
The Falcons added the winning margin in the sixth scoring three runs on singles by Chavez, Butler and a walk. Justin Petersen started the inning off with a double to left.
Kentwood was 90 feet away from tying the game in the bottom of the seventh with Steele on third, but the Conks failed to bring him home.
Kentlake’s Butler was 2-for-2, scoring twice and hitting in a run. Steele was 3-4 for Kentwood with three RBI.
Skyview (Vancouver) beat Kentwood 7-4 in the third-place game.
Kentwood finished second in the NPSL with a 10-4 record. The Conks were 18-8 overall.
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