Auburn Riverside kept its postseason baseball dreams alive Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Bellarmine Prep in the first round of the West Central District III/Southwest District 4 tournament.
Playing the afternoon game at Russell Road Fields in Kent, the Ravens battled the Lions through seven innings, neither team able to capitalize and push a runner across the plate.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, however, Auburn Riverside senior Justin Jacobs powered a Harry Stenberg change-up over the right fielder’s head, scoring pinch runner Brian Darby.
“I was actually expecting a fastball,” Jacobs said. “From the moment I hit it, though, I knew it was over (the right fielder’s) head. I was hoping it would get over the fence, but it ended up just being a double. It got the job done. It feels awesome.”
The loss put an end to Bellarmine Prep’s season. It also earned the Ravens another day of ball, a loser-out contest Wednesday against Heritage, which lost to Kentwood 5-0 in its first-round playoff.
Despite squeezing out the win against the Lions, Auburn Riverside coach Jon Aarstad was content with the win.
“That’s playoff baseball for you,” Aarstad said. “Both pitchers (Stenberg and Noah Freelund) went out and gave it everything they had, all the way down to the last pitch. That kid got tough when we got runners in scoring position. (It) seemed like he was able to bear down and get a little more on his fastball and get some spots. He got some key strikeouts in key moments. He struck out our best hitter a couple times in a big situation. And quite frankly, there hasn’t been a pitcher all season long that has done that to us.
“To get a win out of that … I’ll take it.”
For the Ravens, the chance to still be playing is sweet.
Auburn Riveside started off the season with a 1-4 record, before turning it around with a five-game winning streak and finishing third in the South Puget Sound League 4A.
“We had a little higher expectations,” Aarstad said. “We didn’t play early as well as we would have liked to. We dropped a game or two that we felt we could have had. But the kids are getting some confidence going and playing some really good baseball right now and trying to improve every day.”
For Jacobs, one of five seniors – including Austin Marty, Daniel Casanova, Michael Robinson and Christopher Minteer – the key to the season was just coming together.
“We started playing more team baseball and talking more in the dugout,” Jacobs said.
Aarstad agreed:
“We just kept grinding at it,” he said. “We didn’t have to have that many heart-to-hearts. The kids have been motivated from the beginning. We’ve had adversity that we’ve had to go through and get past. It’s been tough to battle through that stuff, but we have, and we’re right where we want to be.”
One key to the team’s success has been the pitching of Freelund, the team’s sophomore ace. In 32 innings of work, Freelund has compiled a stingy 1.97 earned run average and posted a 5-2 record with 24 strikeouts.
“Noah has gotten better every outing,” Aarstad said. “He was really, really raw coming in, but he’s got great stuff. He’s learned and improved a ton as far as pitching and how to approach the game and hitters. He’s very coachable, like a sponge, continuing to improve and do what we ask him to do day in and day out.”
Offensively the team has keyed on the bats of their seniors, with Marty leading the way with a .500 batting average with 26 RBIs, 12 doubles and six home runs. Minteer has produced 19 RBIs and eight doubles, and Jacobs is hitting .426 with 13 RBIs and nine doubles.
“All five contribute in their own different way,” Aarstad said. “Hitting-wise, they’re our guys, they’re our leaders. They come out and get after it. Defensively, they’re also our leaders. They’re all kids who have baseball smarts. They’re just a great group of kids who just get after it and keep their eyes on the end results.”
ALSO: Second-ranked 3A Auburn Mountainview, the No. 1 seed out of the SPSL, played Decatur in the first round of the West Central District III/Southwest District 4 tourney on Wednesday, with results unavailable at press time.
A win earns the Lions a spot in the state tourney.
