The first chapter was the same, but the story had a drastically different ending for Sammamish on Thursday in their semi-final game with Lake Washington.

As they did against Bellevue, the Totems scored a run in the top of the first inning to take a quick lead. But unlike on Tuesday, when they received a lights-out performance on the mound, Sammamish struggled to hold down a powerful Lake Washington lineup, falling 10-1 on Thursday at Bannerwood Park.

Zach Johnson got things going in the third with a two-run home run off Sammamish starter Jacob West that landed well past the 362 sign in right centerfield and made the score 2-1.

“The first one was the biggest one just because we weren’t sure what we were getting offensively,” said Kangs head coach Derek Bingham. “I think everybody took a sigh of relief and just realized that ‘hey this is just another game’.”

Johnson struck again only an inning later with another two-run blast on the first pitch he saw from West that landed in almost exactly the same spot and pushed the Kangs’ lead to 5-1.

That was more than Lake Washington starter Bob Cruikshank would need.

Cruikshank allowed only two hits after a lengthy first inning and only one Sammamish runner into scoring position in his final six innings of work.

The win moves Lake Washington moves into the title game on Friday at 7 p.m., where they will face Mount Si. The regular season league champ Wildcats advanced with a 5-0 win over Mercer Island in the late game at Bannerwood on Thursday.

Despite the loss, Totems’ senior Chris Strain was confident his team can respond and with good reason. Sammamish took an almost identical route through the season in 2010-struggling at times during their KingCo slate but ultimately ending their season in a winner-to-state game against eventual 3A state champ O’Dea.

“Most of these guys have done it before,” Strain said. “They’ve all seen it can happen, we’re not done.”

Game Notes

Cruikshank walked two batters and also hit a pair with pitches, though he erased one with a pickoff at first in the fifth…The Totems used four pitchers in the game but the final two combined to work only one inning, meaning the Totems could have everyone on their staff other than Thursday’s starter available for their Saturday match-up with Mercer Island…The two teams split a pair of meetings during the regular season with M-I taking the first 19-2 and the Totems earning a 9-6 win on May 4.

Saints downed by Port Angeles

Interlake led 2-1 after one inning in their sub-district playoff game against Port Angeles, but the Roughriders got a grand slam from A.J. Konaposki in the second to take the lead and never looked back, winning by a final score of 7-4.

Austin Strother took the loss for the Saints, who will now 11 a.m. May 14 at Franklin Pierce.