Girls LAX prevails at tournament

The girls lacrosse team ran the table to claim the prestigious Western State championship, capping the tournament in Palo Alto, Calif., with a 7-4 final over Mercer Island.

“I don’t think any other girls program in the state has won the state championships, but not won at the Western States, except Bainbridge,” she said.

Until now. With the tournament usually held over spring break, many top players have in past years been unavailable to make the trip.

“We were fortunate this year in having a varsity group that really wanted to win the tournament, after coming so close the past four years,” Tommila said.

Missing just three players, the Spartans plowed through a field that included three from California, one from Oregon and two of their A-league rivals.

After downing the Conejo (Calif.) Clash, 15-5 on Friday, Bainbridge faced down Holy Names, 13-4, and Cate (Calif.), 9-1, on Saturday.

On the final day, Dunn School (Calif.) was felled 12-2, setting up a showdown between two 2004 state champions: the Spartans faced Sunset from Oregon to get into the title game.

Dispatching Oregon’s state champs by a score of 6-2, Bainbridge moved on to their Mercer Island rivals.

Knotted 3-3 at halftime, the Spartans outscored Mercer 4-1 over the final 25 minutes to claim the trophy.

“We set the pace and dictated the game,” Tommila said. “Both teams played a great game, and it was sweet to see two Washington teams playing in the Western States final. We know where the strength really lies up and down this coast.”

– T.F. Smeeth

Baseball, fastpitch slowed by rain

The Bainbridge High School baseball and fastpitch teams will have some time to relax and gear up before going into Metro League play in two weeks.

Both squads had their games against Lakeside rained out on Friday. They will make up the games on April 19, which will make for a tough run on both sides.

After home games against Chief Sealth on April 18, they travel back to Seattle to face Lakeside on Tuesday.

Then, the baseball team will face the O’Dea Fighting Irish on Wednesday at home and Friday at Judkins Field, while the fastpitch team will take on the Holy Names Cougars Wednesday at home and Friday at Lower Woodland Field.

The games will start at 4 p.m. except for the games on Friday which will take place at 3:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Jayson Gore said his squad will have a short week of practice during spring break before facing off against Olympic at Central Kitsap High School on Friday at 3:30 p.m. They won’t play again until April 15 against North Kitsap in a road contest at 4 p.m.

Fastpitch head coach Liz McCloskey said her team is taking spring break off, and resumes play next week when they travel to play Olympic April 13 at Linder Field, then head to North Kitsap High School to face the Vikings on Friday.

Both games will be at 3:30 p.m.

– John Becerra, Jr.

Back-to-back wins for ‘C’ baseball

Tyler Ferrell and Willy Greene and solid defense combined to face 21 batters over five innings, while the Bainbridge hitters faced five Shorewood pitchers, racking up 13 hits in a 19-2 win in C team baseball action.

In the first, Shorewood led off with a hit, a walk, and stole home to score their only earned run.

In the bottom half of the inning, Vinnie Miller (2 for 2, 2 RBI) led off with a single to left field and scored on a wild pitch. Colin Bowman (3 for 4, 3 RBI) tripled down the left field line and also scored on a wild pitch.

In Miller’s second at bat, he singled past the shortstop, driving in Cam Johnson (3 for 3, 2 B, 3 RBI). Bowman’s second at bat in the inning drove in Jordan Miller and Eldon Ball, who reached base on a walk. Bainbridge brought 12 men to the plate in the inning, scoring seven runs on six hits.

Shorewood scored their other run in the third, but Bainbridge had another big inning, scoring six runs on two hits.

The first three batters walked, leaving the bases loaded for Johnson, who hit a line drive to left center, scoring Ian Powell (2 runs) and Ferrell (1 for 2). In the bottom of the fourth, Bainbridge added three more runs on two hits by J. Miller (1 for 2, three runs, 2 RBI) and Nico Papajani (1 for 2, 1 RBI).

On a blustery but sunny afternoon on March 28, the Spartans routed Mercer Island 11-2. Bainbridge scored their first of 11 runs in the second as Sean Lawson reached first on a fielder’s choice, stole second, then scored on a hit to left field by Vinnie Miller.

Mercer Island answered in the fourth with two runs on four hits, but an unassisted double play by first baseman Mason Tejara with the bases loaded ended their rally. In the bottom half of the inning Bainbridge added four runs with RBI’s by Miller, pitcher Reggie Peltier and a balk.

In the fifth, Bainbridge took advantage of the Islanders’ pitching, scoring six runs on eight walks and RBIs by Colin Bowman, Nico Papajani and Willie Greene (2).

Tyler Ferrell took over for Reggie Peltier in the sixth, retiring six batters in order to end the game.