Published
May 24, 2009
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Alex Fickes, left, is congratulated
at the plate by Shephan Schmidt after scoring against River Ridge in
Saturday's Class 2A quarterfinals. Selah won 9-8.
INGRID BARRENTINE/
For the
Yakima Herald-Republic |
 |
Vikings pass test
Two victories send Selah into 2A state semifinals
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
YELM, Wash. — Selah started a new winning streak
Saturday.
The Vikings, 21-0 until last weekend’s district
championship loss to Othello, smothered Sehome 8-0 and then outlasted River
Ridge 9-8 to reach the Class 2A state final four.
Jake Fife pitched a one-hitter with 12 strikeouts and
also homered against Sehome, the two-time defending state champion, and
sophomore Trent Douglass pitched three innings of hitless relief against
River Ridge.
The Vikings (23-1), having reached the state semifinals
for the second time in three years and 10th time since 1990, will oppose
Chehalis at 7 p.m. Friday in Yakima County Stadium.
“We played two great teams over here,” Selah coach Mike
Archer said. “Sehome’s a class act and River Ridge was really athletic and
emotional. So we had to deal with all that, and I couldn’t be prouder of
this group. They’ve earned this by going about things the right way from
Week 1.”
After Fife dominated the Mariners, pitching his seventh
complete game and fourth shutout while improving to 9-0, the Vikings found
themselves in a see-saw struggle with the Hawks of nearby Lacey.
They fell behind 2-0 in the top of the second, but
scored four times in the bottom of the inning as Trevor Dallman hit a
two-run homer.
River Ridge tied it in the third and took a 6-4 lead
with two more in the fourth, but Selah regained the lead with three runs in
its half of the inning as Fife hit a two-run shot — his second of the day.
Back came the Hawks, scoring twice for the fourth
consecutive inning, for an 8-7 advantage.
Selah, however, got two more in the bottom of the fifth
with Dallman’s third RBI of the day plating the winning run.
Douglass, meanwhile, came on with a runner on third and
none out in the fifth, and got a flyout to right and popouts to second and
shortstop before blanking River Ridge over the final two frames.
“He got the win, and it was his first one all year,”
Archer said. “He’s a kid we’ve been trying to develop, and he just threw
lights-out.”
| Game 2 |
|
|
|
|
| River Ridge |
022 |
220 |
0 |
-- 8 12 2 |
| Selah |
040 |
320 |
x |
-- 9 10 0 |
Schoonover, Matos (4) and Miller; Windsor, Douglass (5) and Snider.
Highlights: Alex Fickes (S) 2-4, RBI; Jake Fife (S) 2-4, HR,
2 RBI; Kurt Lindemann 2-3, 2b, RBI; Matt Snider (S) 2b, RBI; Trevor
Dallman (S) 2-2, HR, 3 RBI. |
| Game 1 |
|
|
|
|
| Sehome
|
000 |
000 |
0 |
-- 0 1
3 |
| Selah |
003 |
500 |
x |
-- 8 13 0 |
Albert,
Pitsch (4) and Lee; Fife and Snider.
Highlights: Fife 12 K, 5 BB, 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; A. Fickes (S)
2-4, RBI; Stephan Schmidt (S) 2-3, 2 2b; Lindemann (S) 2-4, 2b, 2
RBI; Snider (S) 2-3, 2b, RBI. |
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