Ledbetter, Kentlake sink Gig Harbor in 3A state baseball quarterfinals
Mike Suguro and the Kentlake Baseball coaching staff often joke that right-hander Matthew Ledbetter is their “mini George Kirby.”
Sure, it’s a lofty comparison to the Seattle Mariners veteran, but the similarities are there. Ledbetter’s reputation is that of a strike-thrower, tallying eight walks to 52 strikeouts in his first nine appearances this spring. He attacks the strike zone early and works ahead. Once his fastball is established, a quality slider keeps opponents off-guard.
“That’s just Matthew,” Suguro, Kentlake’s head coach, told The News Tribune. “He’s just been pitching his tail off.”
Ledbetter put all of the above on display facing Gig Harbor in the Class 3A state quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Lincoln High School. The 6-foot-2 senior cruised through three scoreless innings, enough time for Kentlake to build a four-run lead. When the Tides rallied to tie the game in the fourth, Ledbetter posted a scoreless fifth when he needed it most.
The Falcons starter threw five solid frames, second baseman Jacob Lawrence delivered a go-ahead single in the sixth inning, and Kentlake knocked off Gig Harbor, 7-4, to reach the state’s ‘Final Four’ for the first time since 2017.
“I’ve been with this group for four years and all of the little things in practice all showed in this game today,” Ledbetter said. “That’s what I’m proud of.”
Last weekend, Gig Harbor blanked Kentlake in five innings, 12-0, behind Tides right-hander Daniel Sleeter’s perfect game in the Class 3A District 3 championship. Ledbetter and UW commit Christopher Moore wanted revenge.
“They had a target on their back, and we just kept punching them in the mouth,” Moore said. “I’m proud of the boys.”
Kentlake grabbed an instant lead when Lawrence scored on an infield error in the first inning. Catcher Austin Pennington added another run with an infield RBI single in the third.
The Falcons stretched their lead to four in the fourth inning with a pair of RBI singles to right field by Lawrence and Ledbetter.
“No one let (last week’s loss) get to their heads,” Ledbetter said. “We still went out there, punched them in the face, and got the win.”
Kentlake knew better than to assume Gig Harbor would go quietly. The Tides rallied for four runs in the fourth inning, capped by Hunter Payne’s two-out, two-run double to center field. Suddenly, the Falcons and Tides had a brand new ballgame in Tacoma.
“We talk a lot about fortitude and how momentum swings,” Suguro said. “When things don’t go your way, you’ve got to find a way to get the momentum back on our side.
“We were able to plug away.”
Lawrence delivered the eventual game-winner in the sixth, poking an RBI single to right field. Moore, later caught in a pickle, slid under the tag at home for another run. Kentlake added insurance on a Tides error in the seventh, but it was reliever Tucker Bartlett who slammed the door with a pair of scoreless relief innings (1 H, 2 BB, 1 K).
“One game never defines you in this game,” Gig Harbor head coach Ben Sleeter said. “We had one bad day.
“A bad day to have a bad day, but (we) were league champs, district champs, and beat some really good teams along the way. That’s baseball. That’s just how it goes.”
Ledbetter allowed four hits and four runs (one earned) with four walks and five strikeouts across five innings. Lawrence and Moore recorded three hits apiece, two of five Falcons with multi-hit games (Ledbetter, Pennington, Lincoln Moore).
Tides right-hander Jake Cuda went 3.2 innings, allowing eight hits and four runs (three earned) with a walk and a strikeout.
Kentlake shut down Southridge, 3-1, in the opening round of the 3A state bracket at Lincoln earlier Saturday, powered by Christopher Moore’s complete game. One of the South Sound’s premier two-way players allowed five hits and one run with no walks and seven strikeouts, adding a walk at the plate.
“I felt like I had everything,” Moore said. “Fastball, slider, changeup. But it was just knowing that that could’ve been my last start on the mound that fired me up.”
No. 6 Kentlake (20-5) meets No. 7 O’Dea in the 3A semifinals at Everett Memorial Stadium next Friday. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m. and the winner punches their ticket to Saturday’s state championship game.
“I didn’t expect to go this far,” Moore said. “(Matthew and I are) like a one-two punch. The bottom half of our order was just killing it. You can’t ask for more.”
