The WIAA’s playoff baseball format is more of a drawn-out affair than, say, softball.
The 16-team playoff field for each classification is split into four regional sites, each of which will host three loser-out games. The winners of the first two games play a regional championship game in the afternoon, with that winner staying alive and heading to the four-team state tournament May 29 and 30.
Here’s a quick rundown of who’s playing today and a look at their regional opponents.
2As
Centralia: The Tigers (15-7) take on Archbishop Murphy (18-5) at 10 a.m. in their regional opener. Both teams finished second in their respective district; Centralia lost to Tumwater, 8-5, in the District 4 championship, while Archbishop Murphy lost to Anacortes, 6-1, in the District 1 title game. Connor Sand, a 6-foot-3 senior right-hander, leads the Wildcat pitching staff.
The winner will take on either Fife (22-2; ranked No. 2 on washingtonbaseballpoll.com) or Cheney (14-10) for a spot in the State 2A tournament, which will be played at Yakima County Stadium.
2Bs
Toledo: The Indians (18-6) are back in Mossyrock for regionals, with a 10 a.m. game against Wilbur-Creston (18-5), a team coming off of a 12-2 loss to Colfax in the third/fourth place game of the District 7/9 tournament. Grant McEwen, an outfielder and leadoff hitter with a .507 batting average, lead the way for Toledo at the plate, while Wes Kuzminsky leads the Indians’ pitching staff with a 1.08 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 64 ⅔ innings of work.
The winner will face either Pe Ell-Willapa Valley or Life Christian at 4 p.m. Toledo and PWV split games during the regular season, and PWV beat Toledo 5-4 in 11 innings in the District 4 semifinals.
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley: The first-year Titans have a chance to make it to the final four without playing a team outside of District 4. Pe Ell-Willapa Valley (19-5) will take on Life Christian (14-4) at 1 p.m., a team the Titans beat 6-4 in the first round of the district tournament. The winner will take on either Toledo — with whom the Titans are quite familiar at this point — or Wilbur-Creston at 4 p.m.
Adna: The Pirates (18-7) will take on Northwest 2B/1B League champion La Conner (17-4) in the first round in Anacortes, starting at 1:30 p.m. The Braves are led by NWL MVP and ace pitcher Max Miller, while Adna will ride the arm of sophomore pitcher Spencer Burdick — who earned a WIAA Athlete of the Week nod last week after a 14-strikeout, one-walk performance in a complete-game shutout of Life Christian.
The winner will take on either Napavine or Liberty Bell at 4:30 p.m.
Napavine: The Tigers (18-4) lost ace pitcher Cole Doughty to a shoulder injury, and No. 2 pitcher Wyatt Stanley has been on the mend since a muscle strain in the first round of the district tournament. Still, with senior Jensen Lindsay taking over as the de facto ace, the Tigers took second in the district tournament and will try to hit their way out of regionals and back to the state championship game. Napavine takes on Liberty Bell (13-6) at 10:30 a.m. in Anacortes, and would face either Adna — who the Tigers went 3-0 against this season — or La Conner with a win.
Notes: Asotin beat perennial powerhouse DeSales — the same team that beat Napavine in last year’s state championship game, and beat Adna in the 2013 championship game — in the District 7/9 title game. Cameron Richman, now a senior, started on the mound in both of those state title games for DeSales (14-4), and the Irish will face Warden in Yakima at 10 a.m. in their regional opener.
1Bs
Oakville: The Acorns (18-2) will try to return to the State 1B championship game in Centralia, where they lost to Colton, 2-1, in last year’s state title game. Oakville, led by pitcher Alex Youckton and sluggers Gary Ortivez and Ray Lopez, faces Shoreline Christian (7-11), the sixth-place team from the seven-team Northwest 2B/1B League, at 1 p.m. at W.F. West High School today. A win will pit Oakville against either Pomeroy (15-6) or Mount Rainier Lutheran (14-5) at 4 p.m.
Notes: Mount Rainier Lutheran beat Oakville 3-0 in the 1B Quad-District title game a week ago. … With only eight teams in the 1B regionals, the winner of Saturday’s 4 p.m. game will advance directly to the State 1B championship game at 4 p.m. next Saturday at Ed Wheeler Field, against either Republic, Liberty Christian, Riverside Christian or defending state champion Colton.
