The Auburn Mountainview and Auburn Riverside are headed for a semifinal showdown this Saturday in the West Central District III/Southwest District 4 3A baseball tournament.
The crosstown rivals face off at 1 p.m. at Auburn Mountainview High School, with the winner earning a shot at the first or second seed into the state 3A tourney and the loser battling for the third or fourth seed.
The Lions (20-1) and Ravens (9-12) qualified for state 3A tourney earlier with wins in the opening rounds of the district tourney.
South Puget Sound League 3A champs Auburn Mountainview – which battled to a undefeated 14-0 league record this season – earned its berth to the state tourney with wins in its first two district games, 10-0 over Foss and 9-5 over Columbia River 9-5, both on May 9.
Against Foss, seniors Blake Mallory and Justin Marsden combined for a five-inning no-hitter, with Mallory earning the win with two innings of work and four strikeouts.
Marsden pitched three innings with nine strikeouts.
Josh Swanson led the LIons with 2-for-3 hitting with a home run and two RBIs. Senior Jeffery Morgan added two RBIs with two hits.
Mallory, Mason Cerrillo, Marsden, Jared Gray, Ikaika Nahaku and Hudson Byorick each added an RBI.
Against Columbia River, Alex Gleason earned the win with a two-strikeout, 1 1/3-inning performance.
Gray – who has a 9-0 record in 10 starts – chipped in on the mound with 4 2/3 innings pitched with five strikeouts and Nahaku pitched an inning.
Marsden had a home run and three RBIs, with Cerrillo and Byorick adding two RBIs apiece.
Junior Garrett Neiss and Swanson each had an RBI.
For Auburn Riverside, who finished the regular season fifth in the SPSL 3A with a 6-8 record, a 2-0 win against Shelton and a 7-5 victory against Kennedy Catholic on May 9 punched its ticket to state.
Against Shelton, senior ace Noah Freelund pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout with six strikeouts.
Freelund added an RBI and freshman Kenny Miller had two doubles and a run.
Against Kennedy Catholic, Raven starter Garett Miller earned the win with 3 2/3 innings work. Aaron Nguyen and Jarett Hite also contributed in relief.
At the plate, Hite had three RBIs on 2-of-4 hitting with Freelund driving in two runs.
Miller added a double and sophomore Garett Miller had an RBI.
The winner of Saturday’s Raven vs. Lions gamet plays the winner of the Kelso (16-3) vs. Central Kitsap (17-4) game for the No. 1 seed into the state tourney. That game gets under way at 7 p.m. The loser takes on the loser of Kelso vs. Central Kitsap at 4 p.m. at Auburn Mountainview for the third seed into the state tourney, which begins May 23 at various locations.
The Lions previously defeated the Ravens in their two meetings earlier this season, with a 2-1 win on April 22 and a 5-1 win on April 24.
The state tourney culminates May 29-30 at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.
