Prep baseball: Jordan Jones’ complete game pitches Kentwood to state with 4-1 win over Timberline

Top Performer: Alan Vasquez, Kentlake, sr.

7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 8 K's — in 1-0 win over Yelm

Kentwood 4, Timberline 1: Putting a substantial amount of runs up on the board has been tough for the Blazers this season, but Jordan Jones made it nearly impossible.

Kentwood’s pitcher Jones struck out 10 batters on Tuesday at Foss High School as the Conquerors beat Timberline, 4-1, in the first round of the Class 4A West Central District tournament.

Jones, a University of Washington signee, allowed no earned runs, two hits and one walk in the complete-game effort as Kentwood earned a state tournament berth for the 11th time since 2004.

Christian Larson and Ben Whitt had the only hits for the Blazers.

Larson scored the only Timberline run in the top of the fourth. He hit a line-drive single to left, and eventually scored on an error two batters later.

But the Blazers never led in this one as Kentwood put up three runs in the third inning, capped by a two-out single by Garrett Stewart. Isaac Hegamin — who was 2 for 3 with an RBI — knocked in the final run in the fourth on a line-drive single to left.

Austin Whalen recorded the loss for the Blazers, who only allowed four or more runs in a game for the fourth time this season.

Timberline (13-6) will play defending 4A state champion South Kitsap (11-9) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Art Wright Field in Kent in a loser-out game. The Blazers shut out the Wolves in both meetings during league play earlier this season.

4A WEST CENTRAL DISTRICT

Winner to state

Gig Harbor 6, Tahoma 0: Two Tides pitchers combined to shutout the Bears and clinch a 4A state tournament berth.

Michael Toglia, a UCLA signee, and Avery Jones, a WSU commit, were dealing for Gig Harbor (15-5). Toglia got the start and went 6 innings, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out eight batters.

Toglia also went 2 for 3 at the plate with a walk, a run scored and an RBI.

Jones came on to close out the game and allowed no hits.

The Tides big inning came in on the third as they scored three runs. Jon Burghardt, a WSU commit, drove in a pair of runs on a 1 for 3 day at the plate. Cameron MacIntosh was 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Gig Harbor clinched its third consecutive trip to state for state after reaching the 4A state semifinals last year.

Tahoma (17-5) falls to the consolation bracket and will play Kentridge at 4 p.m. at Heritage Park in Puyallup.

Federal Way 3, Emerald Ridge 2: Mark Wright’s double tied the game and Calvin Turchin followed with the go-ahead RBI single as the Eagles used that big fourth inning to clinch their third state appearance since 2010.

Turchin pitched all seven innings for Federal Way and retired the final 10 Emerald Ridge batters. He struck out seven.

The Eagles advance to the 4A district semifinals to face Gig Harbor at 10 a.m. Saturday at Kent Memorial Park.

Emerald Ridge’s Deshawn Johnson was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Dominick Zombick was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Chad Gideon threw 6 innings and and allowed two earned runs on four hits.

The Jaguars will play Olympia in a loser-out game at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Heritage Park in Puyallup. Emerald Ridge needs two wins to clinch a state berth.

Loser out

Kentridge 4, Rogers 2: Issac Barerra came up with a pivotal two-RBI triple that tipped the scales of this playoff game in favor of the Chargers, despite being outhit by the Rams.

Barerra’s hit came in the second inning with two outs and an unfavorable 1-2 count. It accounted for two of Kentridge’s three runs in that inning, which ultimately would be enough.

Rogers outhit Kentridge (11-13) 10-7, but was not able to capitalize with runners in scoring position. Brandon Jessee had the biggest contribution with a 3 for 4 day.

Kentridge will continue in the consolation bracket and will play Tahoma next. Rogers’ season ends at 13-9.

Kentlake 1, Yelm 0: Alan Vasquez was dominate on the mound for the Falcons as he pitched a shutout against the Tornados.

Vasquez pitched the complete game, allowing just one hit and struck out eight batters. Shane Nagel and Alex Sisley helped the Falcons (17-5) offense by combining to go 2 for 3 at the plate.

Indigo Keeslar, pitched a great game for the Tornados (13-9). Keeslar pitched six innings, giving up a pair of hits, striking out four batters and allowing two walks. Kentlake was able to scratch across one run off of Keeslar, which was enough for the win.

Kentlake advances to play Thomas Jefferson at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Kent Memorial Park. Yelm’s season came to an end.

Olympia 8, Graham-Kapowsin 2: The Bears decided one huge inning of scoring would suffice to take down the Eagles, dropping all eight of their runs in the fifth inning enroute to a playoff win.

Entering the fifth, Graham-Kapowsin held a 2-0 lead. Olympia quickly erased that and put the Eagles in a hole they couldn’t dig out of.

Derek Downey got the start for Olympia and limited the damage despite allowing eight hits. He went the distance and finished with five strikeouts.

Olympia will next face Emerald Ridge at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Heritage Park in Puyallup. Graham-Kapowsin’s season ended at 10-13.

Mount Rainier 3, South Kitsap 1: The Rams knocked off the defending 4A state champions.

They scored all three runs in the first inning and kept their season alive, while ending South Kitsap’s at 11-10.

Mount Rainier (10-13) advances to face Timberline at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Kent Memorial Park.

South Kitsap had reached the state championship game each of the past three years, finishing second twice before winning it all last year.

2A SOUTHWEST DISTRICT

Tumwater 16, Ridgefield 11: The Thunderbirds (10-8, 3-6 2A Evergreen) early offensive eruption was too much for the Spudders (12-6, 10-2 2A GSHL).

Tumwater scored eight runs in the top half of the first inning. Sam Jones drove in four runs on a 2 for 3 day at the plate. Noah Andrews had a big day as well going 4 for 4, hitting a double and driving in 3 RBI. Andrews drew a walk and also scored two runs.

Ridgefield fought back, scoring in an all but two innings. Spencer Anderson batted cleanup for the Spudders, and did just that. Andrews went 4 for 4, driving in four runs as well as scoring 4 runs.

Hockinson 2, Black Hills 1: The Hawks (12-5, 9-3 2A GSHL) defense kept the Wolves (9-12, 3-6 2A Evergreen) from scoring enough runs to take the win.

Hockinson played an errorless game defensively against Black Hills. The defense started with the pitcher Mitch Lines. Lines went the complete game, striking out seven, allowing five hits and walking one batter.

All the runs for both sides came in the first inning. Jordan Lester led off the game with a triple for Hockinson. Lester then came around to score. Brookes Dyer and Colton Wheeler combined to go 2 for 5 for the Hawks.

1A SOUTHWEST DISTRICT

Tenino 8, Eatonville 2: The Beavers took an early lead and never looked back in their win that lands them in the 1A Southwest District championship.

Rob Wall came up big with the season on the line. He went 3 for 4 with a double and two RBIs. Spencer Brewer also chipped in with a couple RBIs.

Tenino scored a quick three runs in the first inning, followed by four more in the third. They coasted to victory from there.

Next up is the championship against Hoquiam at Olympic Stadium in Hoquiam on May 14.

This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Prep baseball: Jordan Jones’ complete game pitches Kentwood to state with 4-1 win over Timberline."