Selah's Jake Fife pitches against W.F. West in the first innning of Friday's semifinal. Selah won 2-0.   KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic

They came from Jake Fife, in the form of joyful tears, after the Selah senior pitched his Vikings into the Class 2A state championship game Friday night with a two-hit, 2-0 shutout over W.F. West of Chehalis.

The victory, which improved the second-ranked Vikings to 24-1, means an all-Upper Yakima Valley championship day at the stadium Saturday. Prior to Selah's 7 p.m. showdown with Cedarcrest (22-5), Naches Valley will oppose
Kalama for the 1A title at 4 p.m.

"That was just a great high school baseball game," a jubilant Vikings coach Mike Archer said. "We made some great outfield adjustments, the kids played great in the infield, didn't make an error, and late in the game we pitched them backward a little bit -- snuck some fastballs by them."

The game was delayed 55 minutes by a torrential downpour, accompanied by thunder, that forced umpires to send the teams to their dugouts after the top of the first inning.

Once the rain stopped, personnel from the stadium's permanent tenant, the Yakima Bears, cleaned up the base paths and removed the tarps from the pitchers' mound and hitters' area.

Fife, with substantial help from his friends, did the rest.

"I'm speechless," he said, wiping away tears, after bumping his record to 10-0 with his fifth shutout this season and second successive in postseason play. "I really don't know what else to say. This is the happiest I've ever
been in my life."

From a statistical standpoint it wasn't Fife's most dominant outing, since he struck out only four and fanned none after the third inning. He walked one and hit a batter, but allowed only a two-out single in the second and an
infield hit to lead off the bottom of the seventh.

But after Robert Pehl, the Bearcats pitcher who was nearly Fife's equal, lined to center, Tyler McCarty popped out in foul territory to third baseman Justin Windsor and then Edgard Burgos bounced out to Windsor, Selah's celebration began.

Though the Vikings are playing in their 10th final four and Saturday will compete in their second championship game in three years, they're looking for their first state title.

"That's an extremely good baseball team," Archer said of the sixth-ranked Bearcats, who lost for only the second time in 26 games. "Their kids can really swing it. We had to pitch great and play great to win, and we scratched out a couple of runs the ended up being enough."

Selah got two of its five hits in the second inning, when the Vikings scored the game's only runs.

With one out Matt Snider singled up the middle, after which Trevor Dallman lined an opposite-field triple into the right-field corner. Snider scored on the play, and Dallman followed on a wild pitch.

The Vikings had threatened in the first, just before the rainstorm, on Fife's one-out triple, but he was stranded and Snider was thrown out at the plate on an infield grounder in the fourth.

Chehalis, too, had a runner cut down at home. With runners at first and third and one out in the second, Fife stepped off the rubber when Brennan Casteel broke for second, then spun away from the rundown to fire to Snider who tagged out McCarty.

Chehalis did not advance a runner past first for the rest of the game.

The Bearcats did hit several balls hard early, but Selah's fielders were ideally positioned. So was Kyle Fickes in center when Pehl, Chehalis' cleanup hitter, hit a laser to him in the seventh.

"That's just the way it is with this team," Fife said. "Everybody's got the other guy's back."

W.F. West 7th: Ray infield single to short; Pehl lines out to center; McCarty pops out to third base; Burgos grounds out to third. No runs, one hit, no errors, one runner left on base. 

Selah 7th: Noble pinch-hits for Heilman, grounds out to second; Fickes walks; Fife hit by pitch; Schmidt lines out to right, Fickes doubled-up at second. No runs, no hits, no errors, one runner left on base.

W.F. West 6th: Boucher flies out to right; Forgione flies out to center; Schoelkopf grounds out to second. No runs, no hits, no errors, no runners left on base.

Selah 6th: Lindemann hit by pitch; Snider sacrifice bunt, 2-3, Lindemann takes second; Dallman intentional walk; Porter bloops out to second, second baseman forces out Dallman at first. No runs, no hits, no errors, one runner left on base.

W.F. West 5th: Burgos grounds out to short; Casteel grounds out to short; Bonagofsky flies out to center. No runs, no hits, no errors, no runners left on base.  

Selah 5th: Fickes infield single; Fife flies out to center; Schmidt struck out; Windsor grounds out to short. No runs, one hit, no errors, one runner left on base.  

W.F. West 4th: Schoelkopf bloops out to short; Ray hit by pitch; Pehl lined out to left; McCarty flies out to center. No runs, no hits, no errors, one runner left on base.

Selah 4th: Lindemann grounds out to second; Snider doubles to left; Snider takes third on wild pitch; Dallman walks; Porter grounds into fielder's choice, Snider thrown out at plate; Heilman strikes out. No runs, one hit, no errors, two runners left on base. 

W.F. West 3rd: Bonagofsky flies out to left; Boucher lines out to short; Forgione struck out looking. No runs, no hits, no errors, no runners left on base.

Selah 3rd: Fickes grounds out to pitcher; Fife popped out to short; Schmidt reaches on error by third baseman; Schmidt advances to second on wild pitch; Windsor strikes out. No runs, no hits, one error, one runner left on base.

W.F. West 2nd: Pehl flied out to right; McCarty walks; Burgos strikes out; Casteel single to center, McCarty advances to third; McCarty thrown out at plate on double-steal attempt. No runs, one hit, no errors, one runner left on base.

Selah 2nd: Lindemann strikes out; Snider singles to center; Dallman RBI triple to right; Dallman scores on wild pitch; Porter grounds out to pitcher; Heilman strikes out. Two runs, two hits, no errors, no runners left on base.

W.F. West 1st: Forgione flies out to right; Schoelkopf strikes out; Ray strikes out. No runs, no hits, no errors, no runners left on base.

The game was delayed by rain for 55 minutes after the conclusion of the top half of the first inning.

Selah 1st: Fickes flies out to right; Fife triples to right; Schmidt strikes out looking; Windser grounds out to third. No runs, one hit, no errors, one runner left on base.

Starting lineups
   Selah -- Fickes, ss; Fife, p; Schmidt, dh (for Fickes, cf); Windsor, 3b; Lindemann, rf; Snider, c; Dallman, lf; Porter, 1b; Heilman, 2b.
   W.F. West -- Forgione, ss; Schoelkopf, c; Ray, cf; Pehl, p; McCarty, lf; Burgos, 1b; Casteel, 2b; Bonagofsky, rf; Boucher, 3b.