Team of destiny? Puyallup rallies, Ringenbach walks off Lake Stevens in quarterfinals
The elite pitching, top-to-bottom lineup and relentlessness in the face of a deficit suggest a team of destiny unfolding before our eyes.
The No. 2 nationally-ranked Puyallup Vikings have once again asserted themselves as unbeatable. When Lake Stevens rallied for four runs in the seventh inning and took a 5-3 lead in Saturday’s 4A state quarterfinals, Puyallup embraced a role they rarely play — heartbreakers.
And now, the Vikings have a new hero: DJ Ringenbach’s two-out, walk-off single to center field scored Jacek Garden and lifted Puyallup over Lake Stevens, 6-5, in a storybook ending the patrons at Heritage Recreation Center will remember forever.
Puyallup surged back for three runs in the final frame, sparked by three straight walks and Kyler Malnar’s game-tying fielder’s choice before Ringenbach’s game-winner.
“We just all trust each other and we know we’re going to get the job done,” Ringenbach told The News Tribune. “There’s something different about the bond we have.
“It’s just amazing playing here. I love it. I love it so much.”
Do you believe in destiny? Puyallup (28-0) rolls into next weekend’s 4A semifinals in Yakima just two wins from glory, one of which will certainly feature MLB Draft prospect Mason Pike on the mound. A state championship would mark the program’s first since 2017.
Ringenbach first reached and scored an all-important insurance run in the sixth with a near-identical at-bat to his walk-off. The left fielder chased a low curveball before barreling a line-drive single to center field, both off Lake Stevens right-hander Blake Moser.
“This is the best team I’ve ever played with,” he said. “You look right? Dawg. You look left? Dawg. There’s no weak point in our team.”
Puyallup southpaw Jett Reed threw 4.2 excellent innings in Saturday’s quarterfinals, permitting four hits and one earned run with two walks and nine strikeouts. He worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the second inning and rallied to strike out the side in the third, pumping his fist and high-fiving teammates with run support approaching.
“I’m so proud of that kid,” Puyallup head coach Marc Wiese said of his starter. “(Jett) was a kid that didn’t get a whole lot of opportunities last year, was right on the verge. He took that number two spot and rode with it all year, and hasn’t relinquished it. If he can give us four to five good innings, I’ll be really happy.”
Puyallup trailed 1-0 after four innings but grabbed two runs in the fifth when Gage Thompson’s ground ball snuck through the left infield and scored Riley Sanoy — a game-tying, RBI single that created a brand new ballgame. Four pitches later, Pike stole home (and the lead) on Moser’s wild pitch.
Ringenbach’s sixth-inning insurance run doubled Puyallup’s late lead, 3-1, before a roller-coaster seventh.
Trailing 3-1, Lake Stevens put runners on the corners with one out when Chase Fluke doubled to left field and A’alona DeMartin singled to center. An ensuing ground ball to Pike at second base had the potential for a game-winning double play, but the Puyallup star’s throw missed shortstop Brayden Landry and sailed into the outfield.
The momentum only snowballed. Lake Stevens shortstop Aspen Alexander followed with a game-tying double to right field and Julian Wilson delivered a clutch, go-ahead single to center, pushing Puyallup to the brink. Would they respond, and how?
“They’re not going to give up,” Wiese said. They’re going to fight until the last out. That’s all I can expect out of them, is to play hard and give everything they have. And at the end of the day, if we win? We’ve got two more of them.”
Pack the buses: Puyallup has punched their ticket to Yakima. The Vikings meet No. 13 Lake Washington in next weekend’s 4A state semifinals on May 30. A trip to the May 31 championship game is on the line, where Puyallup finished runner-up last year.
“You’ve just got to find a way,” Wiese said. “And we found a way.”
