The Newport baseball team saw their state title quest come to an end on Saturday in a 3-1 loss to Jackson (Mill Creek) in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.
The Knights, who won their way into the quarters with an 8-3 opening round win over South Kitsap, struggled to find any rhythm on offense against Timberwolves starting pitcher Sam Brown.
Brown worked a sharp biting curveball that he controlled at will- moving the pitch inside and away to both righties and left-handed hitters and keeping the Newport bats off balance.
“It was nice to be able to get ahead with my curveball and setup my fastball and get ahead with my fastball and setup my curveball” Brown said. “Everything worked together.”
The junior went the distance, striking out seven and allowing only one run (unearned) on one hit and walking four.
“He had a tremendous approach,” Newport coach Hal DeBerry said of Brown. “We knew what he was trying to do but we were good and he was great.”
Jackson broke a scoreless tie with two outs in the third when Brown chopped a seeing-eye-single through the right side, scoring Connor Plaisance from second base. They added another in the fourth when Anthony Flatt tripled to lead off the inning before being doubled home by Robert Brencic two batters later.
The Knights posed their only major threat in the fifth but came away with only the one run on a Billy Sahlinger single that was mishandled in left field, allowing Nick Clifford to score.
But those would be the only two mishaps of the game for the top-seeded Timberwolves, who move on to face Redmond in the state semi-finals next week.
The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for the Knights, who had high hopes of capturing the school’s seventh state championship in baseball.
“I was really proud of the way the kids competed and battled,” DeBerry said. “We kept searching for that break and we just ran out of time.”
Cole Wiper started on the mound in what was his final game for coach Hal DeBerry, going five-plus innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits. Wiper walked only a pair while striking out seven Jackson hitters.
DeBerry went to each of his 11 seniors after the game, shaking hands and offering words of encouragement.
“I told them I couldn’t be any prouder of them- how they competed and pulled for each other,” DeBerry said.
Game Notes
Cole Wiper threw 99 pitches and again did so in front of a bevy of scouts, many flashing radar guns on nearly every pitch…Newport had four runners reach scoring position in the game, with Clifford doing so twice… Brown carried a no-hitter into the fifth..DeBerry has been with many of the Newport seniors since 2007, when he coached them on a summer team…The Newport seniors: Brandon Richards, Joseph Victor, Daniel Altchech, Keith Van Court, Matt Carnahan-Murray, Lee Stoops, Erik Jensen, Zak Holcomb, Nick Clifford, Cole Wiper and Jared Fisher.
Vikings fight into 1A baseball semi-finals
Bellevue Christian defeated defending 1A champ Cashmere in the opening round of the 1A state baseball tournament today in Eastmont and then hammered Columbia (Burbank) 16-3.
The Vikings will meet Chimacum at 1 p.m. on Friday at County Stadium in Yakima.
Walk-off ends Saints’ season
It took nine innings, but Interlake fell to Burlington-Edison 3-2 in the 2A state playoffs on a walk-off home run. Details are not yet available.
Sammamish shutout by Camas
The Papermakers played a physical style and moved into the semi-finals of the 3A state soccer tournament, beating the Totems 2-0 at Doc Harris Stadium.
