Knights fall just short of 4A KingCo title

There weren’t any tears, or lengthy postgame ruminations from players and coaches. No one lingered on the bench, head-in-hands.

After their 2-1 defeat at the hands of Bothell in the 4A KingCo title game that gave the Cougars the trophy and top seed to state from District 2, the Newport Knights gathered briefly beyond first base, gathered their things and quickly departed-their focus squarely moved to the 4A state tournament, which begins for them May 21 at Everett Memorial Stadium.

“We’ll take this as a learning experience,” Newport coach Hal DeBerry said, adding that it was important for his squad to gain experience playing with something on the line against a quality opponent heading into the state tournament.

The Knights jumped on top 1-0 in the first and the lead held until a three-run third inning from Bothell that was highlighted by a two-run bomb from Jon Mercer.

Newport’s Keith Van Court responded with his first home run of the year, a two-run bomb that tied the game at 3 in the top of the fourth.But Bothell responded in the bottom half of the inning when Mark Woods singled home Dain Gilbert to give the Cougars a 4-3 advantage and ultimately, the 4A KingCo tournament title.

Bothell starter Brian McAfee went the distance, allowing three runs on seven hits and not walking a single batter to move his record to 8-0 on the year. The rangy right-hander survived as he has throughout the season, by effectively mixing his fastball and breaking ball to keep Newport hitters guessing all evening.

“It was really important to keep them off balance,” McAfee said. “They are great hitters.”

The Knights had one final opportunity to get to McAfee in the sixth after an error put Cole Wiper on base to start the inning. Nick Clifford eventually ended up on second with only one man gone, but back-to-back strikeouts got McAfee out of trouble.

Aaron Sandefur, who replaced starter Billy Sahlinger in the fourth, was tagged with the loss despite allowing only the one hit and striking out five in three innings of work.

Game Notes

Newport’s first inning run was the first allowed by McAfee in over a month, through seven starts, which were all wins. He credited the defensive play behind him for the streak…All seven of McAfee’s strikeouts came from the fourth inning on…The Knights fell despite out-hitting Bothell 7-5…Both teams committed one error in the game