To be fair, Wiese’s choices were first baseman Tyler Peterson, who slugged two home runs and drove in six runs, and pitcher Adam Cimber, who threw a complete game and struck out 10.

“Choose one?” Wiese said. “That’s tough. Without either guy, who knows what happens in this game.”

Cimber dominated the South Kitsap batters while Peterson tortured the Wolves’ pitchers, guiding Puyallup to an 8-1 victory and a Class 4A baseball state playoffs berth in the West Central District tournament Saturday at Heritage Field in Puyallup.

“This was huge,” said Cimber, a junior who has verbally committed to play at Washington. “They put a whuppin’ on us pretty good two years ago. We wanted this bad.”

South Kitsap (14-5) thumped the Vikings 21-2 in the first round of the state playoffs in 2006.

This time, the South Puget Sound League North champions administered the pounding.

Cimber (6-0) struck out the side in the first inning, and the Vikings (18-4) never relented. Peterson crushed a curveball over the left-field fence in the second inning, putting Puyallup ahead 2-0. After two more Cimber strikeouts, the Vikings added another run in the third inning when Joe Leinweber singled home Andrew Barry.

The Wolves, the Narrows League Bridge Division champs, mustered a run in the fourth inning, but again frittered away a scoring opportunity.

Like they did in the second inning, South Kitsap’s first two batters got hits and were in scoring position with no outs. Cimber thwarted the first threat by recording two strikeouts before ending the inning on a groundout.

In the fourth, Todd Dalrymple and Ghyn Hobson led off with singles, bringing up designated hitter Collin Monagle. Cimber struck out his future UW teammate and then got Chris Sizemore to ground out. Scott McGallian, the No. 9 hitter, followed with a single to left field that scored Dalrymple, but Hobson was thrown out at home, ending the inning.

“I’d be lying if I said that didn’t affect our psyche,” South Kitsap coach Jim Fairweather said. “We made some mistakes, and they’ve got a kid on the mound who was just dealing. I could ride that guy all the way to state, too.”

Leading 3-1 in the fifth inning, Puyallup blew the game open and chased Wolves starter Adam Douty. The Vikings began the barrage with three hits, scoring one run. Douty got the fourth batter out, but walked the next, loading the bases, and was pulled in favor of reliever Ricky Johnson.

Peterson stepped to the plate looking for a fastball and, on a 2-0 pitch, saw what he wanted. The sophomore drilled a line-drive grand slam over the left-field fence, giving Puyallup an 8-1 advantage.

“I was waiting for a good fastball,” Peterson said. “The first two pitches were fastballs low and away, then I got one right down the middle and went for it.”

Cimber kept the Wolves down, striking out two more in the sixth. He did issue an uncharacteristic walk – only his fourth of the season – in the seventh.

“He’s got such movement on his fastball,” Wiese said. “He’s going to take whatever the umpire is giving him. He can paint the corners.”

Puyallup will face Snohomish at 10 a.m. Saturday at Everett Memorial.

Auburn 13, Capital 1: The Trojans cruised in the tournament finals, easily dispatching the Cougars for the bi-district’s No. 1 seed to state. Auburn (18-5) will host Bishop Blanchet at 1 p.m. Saturday in Centralia. Capital, which is the No. 2 seed, will play Franklin Pierce at 10 a.m. Saturday at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue.

In the semifinals earlier on Saturday, Auburn beat Olympic 13-3 and Capital beat Hazen 12-4.

Olympic 12, Hazen 5: Sophomore pitcher Riley Crow improved to 9-0 as the Trojans earned the tournament’s No. 3 seed to state. Olympic totaled 15 hits in the game. Hazen is the No. 5 seed and will play Sea-King No. 1 Issaquah on Saturday.

Mount Rainier 8, Bonney Lake 2: The Rams secured the tournament’s final state berth and ended the Panthers’ season with the win. Mount Rainier (21-6) will play Seattle Prep at 10 a.m. Saturday at Dream Field in Mount Vernon.

Kelso sent the Rams to the loser-out game earlier on Saturday when it beat them 6-1.

Bonney Lake (16-10) lost two winner-to-state games on Saturday, falling 7-3 to Franklin Pierce earlier.

Kelso 4, Franklin Pierce 2: Hilanders pitcher Trevor May struck out 16 and held the Cardinals to two hits, leading Kelso to the No. 4 seed to state. Franklin Pierce gets the No. 6 seed.

The Cardinals scored two runs in the first inning and led until the Hilanders scored three in the sixth.

1A West Central-Northwest Bi-District

Vashon Island 11, Seattle Christian 3: Nathan Ott crushed a grand slam and Chris Pieterick threw a complete game, helping the Pirates claim the state berth in the loser-out contest at Stanwood.

Pieterick struck out six and allowed five hits and three walks. Justin Calhoun hit a two-run homer and Chris Allman added a solo shot and a triple.

Doug Pacey: 253-597-8271

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