State champs! Sumner leaves no doubt, pummels Gonzaga Prep in 4A title game
Sumner left no doubt.
The Spartans dominated Gonzaga Prep from the first pitch until the final out in the Class 4A state championship game on Saturday night at Everett Memorial Stadium, 7-0.
There were no nail-biting moments, no dramatic comebacks or game-winning plays. The only real question was just how many runs the Spartans would win by.
Starting pitcher Brody Santman was masterful and nearly unhittable, pounding the zone while also keeping every Gonzaga Prep hitter off balance. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning and racked up 10 strikeouts, allowing just two hits, no runs and walking three over six innings of work.
“A lot of four seams, two seams and cutters,” Santman said. “Really mixing those in. The changeup was the big wipeout.”
Sumner coach Dylan Mclauchlin heaped praise onto the lefty.
“He’ll mix your eye level, he’ll mix the speed, he’ll mix the zone,” he said. “He tries to make you not look like a good hitter, that’s kind of his job. He tries to mess with you and he does a really good job with it. … He knows how to command the ball well. Phenomenal pitcher.”
It’s the first state baseball title for Sumner High School.
Sumner built a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with a Jake Miller double into the gap and a Bryce Carl single into right field scoring a run apiece. Carl drove in another run with a hit in the third. Liam Ferguson drove in Xander Cypher in the fourth after Cypher tripled, making it 4-0.
Carl struck again in the fifth inning, driving in two runs with a double. Cypher drove in the final run with a single in the fifth.
Carl was suspended for Friday’s semifinal game after an awkward slide attempt at second base against Kennedy Catholic in a state tournament quarterfinal game a week earlier provoked a response from the Kennedy Catholic player, who got into Carl’s face. Both players were ejected from the game, and Carl was therefore ineligible for the following game, which was the state semifinal.
“Free Bryce” has been the team’s mantra, Santman joked. He was freed for Saturday’s championship game and made an immediate impact, going 3-for-3 with four RBI.
“I was definitely just waiting to get after it,” Carl said. “That was really tough to (sit in the semifinal game), but the boys still got it done for me. So it was nice to be back.”
Mclauchlin had a suspicion Carl might be extra motivated after watching from the dugout the day before.
“I could tell up there in (batting practice),” he said. “He was locked in.”
UW commit Jake Miller, who has been one of the team’s top hitters all season, went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a walk. Now he’s a state champion.
“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever felt in my life,” he said. “This is what we’ve worked all season for, it’s what we prepared for, it’s what our goal was from the beginning.”
It was a historic school year for the Sumner Spartans. The football team won its second consecutive 4A title in the fall under longtime coach Keith Ross, who was in attendance for Saturday’s baseball game.
The girls basketball team also played in the 4A state championship game, falling to Davis in the winter and the boys soccer team played in the 4A state championship game at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup on Saturday, falling 3-1 to Eastmont.
