Prep baseball: E-W Warriors lose to Snohomish Panthers

After their streak of six-straight trips to the WIAA State 3A Baseball Tournament was snapped last year, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors had a shot this season at redemption and returning to State on Tuesday. But an opportunistic Snohomish Panthers squad – and a pair of sixth-inning controversial umpire calls – left the Warriors disappointed, dumbfounded and hoping that their one last chance on Saturday will have a different result.

The Warriors was tripped up on Tuesday by the Panthers 3-2 in a District 1 3A Baseball Tournament semifinal winner-to-state contest at the Everett Memorial Stadium.

The victory sends No. 2-seeded Snohomish to the District 1 tourney championship game and gives the Panthers a ticket to the state tournament later this month. For the No. 3-seeded Warriors, they will have a matchup against the fourth-seeded Shorewood Stormrays at 10 a.m. on Saturday with the winner getting a share of third place in the District 1 tournament and one of the last berths into the state tourney.

The Warriors will have to regroup for their important Saturday morning contest after suffering what turned out to be an agonizing defeat to Snohomish on Tuesday. “This is a tough loss to swallow,” Edmonds-Woodway Coach Dan Somoza said.

Snohomish jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Reve LeRoux stroked a two-run single to center field, scoring Landon Klein and Rider Walsh, who had both reached base earlier on base-on-balls.

Edmonds-Woodway scored a lone run in the third inning to cut the Panthers advantage to 2-1. After loading the bases with one out, Warrior senior Finn Crawford was hit by a pitch, scoring Toshi Gilginas from third base. Any additional E-W runs weren’t in the mix as William Alseth popped out, followed by Erik Alsdorf hitting into a fielder’s choice to end the rally.

The score remained 2-1 until the fateful sixth inning. The Warriors, again, loaded the bases with a Crawford base-on-balls, an Alseth single to center field and a throwing error by Panther Breckin Davisson, allowing Alsdorf to reach first safely. Senior DJ Karl, who entered the game as a pinchrunner for Crawford, scored when Cameron Croft hit into a double play, tying the game at 2-2.

The Warriors wanted more and looked to score another run with an attempted steal of home. With two outs and Andrew Bau batting, Alseth took off from third but was called out via a tag at the plate by LeRoux.

It was Somoza, coaching at third base, that had sent Alseth on the steal attempt and the chance to take the lead. “We were going to steal home on that with two strikes and two outs. I thought he was in there, but I’m not the umpire,” Somoza said.

“We stay aggressive; that’s part of our nature,” he added. “We were going to be aggressive right there, and it didn’t go our way.”

A second call in the sixth didn’t go the Warriors’ way either. Snohomish’s Luke Davis singled to leadoff the bottom of the frame, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and then to third on a fielder’s choice. Davis would score when Blake Smith hit a grounder to Croft at third base, but the junior’s throw to first was wide. Crawford, handling Edmonds-Woodway first base duties, was ruled off the base when he dove to catch the throw from Croft. The batter, Smith, was called safe at first while Davis trotted home from third with the go-ahead run.

After pleas from Somoza and a number of Edmonds-Woodway players, the umpires huddled and ultimately decided the close call at first base would stand, giving Snohomish a 3-2 lead as the game moved to the seventh.

In the seventh inning, Bau – representing the tying run – led off with a base-on-balls, reached second via a Gilginas sacrifice bunt and third on a Cruz Escandon groundout. Bau was stranded at third base after Trevelyan Podawiltz hit a rocket down the first base line that was snagged by a diving Ethan Green to end the game.

“We battled, and we were right there at the end,” Somoza said after the game. “We had our chances but came up a little short.”

The Warriors left a total of seven runners on base in the game. “We had our chances with the bases loaded a couple of times,” Somoza said. “We got one [each time] but we didn’t get more. So when you have chances in the playoffs against a good team like Snohomish, you’ve got to take advantage. And we just didn’t push more runs across.”

Edmonds-Woodway’s Declan Crawford was saddled with the loss despite pitching a complete game, scattering six hits and striking out seven. “Declan pitched really good after that first inning,” Somoza said. “It was a little shaky to start with, and he shut it down after that. It’s a very good Snohomish hitting team.”

Snohomish and the No. 1-seeded Mount Vernon Bulldogs, with tickets to State already in hand, will play for the District 1 championship 4 p.m. Saturday. Edmonds-Woodway will have to settle for playing in a District 1 tourney third-place game and the prospect of missing out on a trip to State for a second-straight year with a potential loss.

“That’s part of life; things don’t always go your way,” Somoza concluded. “We’ve got to rebound and get back together on Saturday. We’ve got a big game at 10 a.m.”

The entire District 1 3A Baseball Tournament bracket is available here.

Prep baseball: Edmonds-Woodway vs. Snohomish, May 12 (District 1 3A Baseball Tournament semifinal game)

Edmonds-Woodway 0   0   1     0   0   1     0    –    2    4    0

Snohomish 2   0   0     0   0   1     x    –    3    6    1

Winning pitcher: Blake Smith (Snohomish)

Losing pitcher: Declan Crawford (Edmonds-Woodway) 

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 17-6 overall; Snohomish 18-4 overall

Edmonds-Woodway’s next game: versus Shorewood; 10 a.m. Saturday, May 16, at the Everett Memorial Stadium (District 1 3A Baseball Tournament third-place winner-to-state game)

Snohomish’s next game: versus Mount Vernon; 4 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at the Everett Memorial Stadium (District 1 3A Baseball Tournament championship game)