R.A. Long players celebrate Friday after beating Selah 3-1 in the Class 2A state semifinals at Yakima County Stadium.   ANDY SAWYER/ Yakima Herald-Republic

R.A. Long stops Viks
 
Left-hander Johnson shuts down Selah, 3-1, in semis

By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Sometimes big challenges come in small packages.

View all photos for this story.

Witness R.A. Long's Josh Johnson, who while not physically imposing, Friday night pitched an absolute monster of a game against Selah.

The Lumberjacks' junior left-hander used an assortment of impeccably placed soft-serve offerings, mixed in an occasional fastball and scattered seven hits to stymie the Vikings 3-1 in a Class 2A semifinal at Yakima County Stadium.

"Their kid was good," said coach Mike Archer, whose Viks (21-4) will oppose Archbishop Murphy (21-4) at 1 p.m. Saturday in a game for third and fourth places. "His location was outstanding with his off-speed stuff, and that made his fastball look that much quicker."

The Lumberjacks (20-5), meanwhile, will meet Chehalis (20-3) at 7 p.m. for the championship.

Height and weight are not listed in state tournament baseball rosters, but suffice it to describe Johnson as a scale-model Jamie Moyer.

He struck out five and walked none en route to out-dueling Selah righty Trent Douglass, who was victimized by three run-scoring hits with two out.

The Vikings, who had a 10-game winning streak snapped, got a two-out RBI hit, too, but nothing beyond Andrew Gonzalez's ringing third-inning double off the left-center field wall that scored Kurt Lindemann, who had singled.

Selah might have had a bigger inning, but Allen Noble had been picked off first after a leadoff single. Kyle Fickes experienced a similar fate an inning later.

"We had some mistakes in bunt situations that hurt us," Archer said. "But also in a game like this we needed a break -- a ball to drop for us somewhere along the way."

Not only did the Vikings not benefit from such good fortune, they were denied on multiple occasions.

In the fifth, for example, Noble's double was preceded by right-fielder Tanner Chamberlain's diving grab of Douglass's leadoff drive. And with two out and Noble at third in the same frame, left-fielder Jake Look made a shoestring catch of Lindemann's sinking flair.

Long's telling blows came from Chamberlain, whose single to center tied it in the fourth; Look's base hit to left that scored a runner who'd reached base on an error in the fifth; and Michael Puvogel's double in the sixth.

No Lumberjack had more than one hit, but eight of them had one each. Lindemann and Noble produced two apiece for Selah.

"Both pitchers pitched well (Douglass issued no walks while fanning three)," Archer said, "and I thought we played hard and played well. What we do now is come back tomorrow. We're not frontrunners. We'll try to win another game and get these kids a reward for all the hard work they've done."

Selah seventh: Snider grounds out to short; pinch-hitter Fife flies out to left; Douglass flies to right, advances to second when ball dropped; Noble strikes out. No runs, no hits, one error, one runner left on base.    

R.A. Long sixth: Peterson singles to left; Gomez grounds into fielder's choice, Peterson forced at second; Chamberlain pops out to third; Puvogel RBI double to left-center; Puvogel picked off second 1-6-5-4. One run, two hits, no errors, no runners left on base. 

Selah sixth: Gonzalez grounds out to third; Schmidt pops out to first; K. Fickes pops out to second. No runs, no hits, no errors, no runners left on base.

R.A. Long fifth: Kreiger grounds out to second; Williams reaches on throwing error by third baseman; courtesy runner Johnson steals second; Welch strikes out looking; Look RBI single to left-center; Look steals second; Wegdahl strikes out. One run, one hit, one error, one runner left on base.  

Selah fifth: Douglass lines out to right-center; Noble doubles down right-field line; A. Fickes flies out to center, Noble advances to third; Lindemann flies out to left. No runs, one hit, no errors, one runner left on base.

R.A. Long fourth: Wegdahl singles to right; Peterson flies out to right; Wegdahl advances on wild pitch; Gomez strikes out looking; Chamberlain RBI single to center; Puvogel grounds out to short. One run, two hits, no errors, one runner left on base. 

Selah fourth: K. Fickes singles to left-center; K. Fickes picked off first; Snider flies out to left; Brader pops out to second. No runs, one hit, no errors, no runners left on base.

R.A. Long third: Puvogel grounds out to second; Kreiger flies out to center; Williams singles to center; Welch singles off pitcher (literally); Look grounds into fielder's choice, Welch forced at second. No runs, two hits, no errors, two runners left on base. 

Selah third: Noble singles up the middle; Noble caught stealing 2-3-6; A. Fickes strikes out looking; Lindemann singles to right; Gonzalez RBI triple to left-center; Schmidt grounds out to short. One run, three hits, no errors, one runner left on base.  

R.A. Long second: Peterson flies out to left; Gomez singles to center; Gomez picked off first by catcher; Chamberlain strikes out. No runs, one hit, no errors, no runners left on base.

Selah second: Snider strikes out looking; Brader strikes out; Douglass strikes out. No runs, no hits, no errors, no runners left on base.

R.A. Long first: Welch grounds out to short; Look grounds out to second; Wegdahl lines out to right. No runs, no hits, no errors, no runners left on base.

Selah first: A. Fickes flies out to right; Lindemann singles to right; Gonzalez grounds into fielder's choice at third, Lindemann forced at second; Schmidt singles to right, Gonzalez advances to third; K. Fickes flies out to center. No runs, two hits, no errors, two runners left on base.

Starting lineups
   Selah -- A. Fickes, ss; Lindemann, rf; Gonzalez, 3b; Schmidt, 1b; K. Fickes, cf; Snider, c; Brader, lf; Douglass, p; Noble, 2b.
   R.A. Long -- Welch, 2b; Look, lf; Wegdahl, ss; Peterson, cf; Gomez, 3b; Chamberlain, rf; Puvogel, 1b; Kreiger, dh (for Johnson, p); Williams, c.