Seattle, here they come.
The Federal Way Eagles continued their impressive late-season ride Saturday to qualify for the Class 4A State Baseball Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2003.
The Eagles (18-5) blasted Kamiak in the state tournament opening round, 12-6, and tallied a single run in the top of the seventh to beat Redmond in the quarterfinals, 6-5, at Kent Memorial Park.
Federal Way will face a familiar foe during the state semifinals. The Eagles will battle the Kentwood Conquerors at 4 p.m. Friday at Seattle’s Safeco Field. The Conks won the South Puget Sound League North Division title over the Eagles, who finished second. Kentwood (19-3) swept Federal Way in their two regular season games.
Richland will take on Shorewood in the other half of the bracket. The Class 4A state championship is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday at Safeco.
The Conquerors throttled the ninth-ranked Eagles in the season opener March 23, 9-1. In that win, Kentwood ace Austin Voth delivered five scoreless innings, allowed just one hit and struck out 10. Kentwood also beat Federal Way 7-2 on April 14. It looks like Federal Way will have to deal with Voth again Friday night in Seattle. The University of Washington-bound right hander is unbeaten on the season.
“We’re going to pitch Austin on Friday just because that is what we’ve done all year,” Kentwood head coach Jon Aarstad said.
The Eagles and head coach Danny Graham will, most likely, counter Voth with Elliot Morris. The 6-foot-4 senior is 7-1 on the season, including three wins during the postseason. Morris threw a complete game during the win over Kamiak Saturday.
The April loss to the Conquerors was the last time the Eagles came up on the short end of the scoreboard. Since April 14, Federal Way has won 11 straight games and will be making their first state semifinal appearance since 2003.
“It’s very hard to beat a good team three times, and we beat them twice,” Kentwood head coach Jon Aarstad said. “We definitely can’t look past them. Federal Way is a much different team than the one we saw four weeks ago. They’re playing a much better brand of baseball now.”
Senior TJ Horsfall picked up the win against Redmond Saturday during the 6-5 state quarterfinal win by throwing six innings and allowing only four hits to the Mustangs. Austin Weber threw the seventh to pick up his fourth save of the season.
But Horsfall’s pitching wasn’t his only highlight against the Mustangs. It was his bloop single in the seventh that scored pinch runner Tanner Day with the winning run to send the Eagles into a pig-pile on the mound at Kent Memorial Park and onto Safeco Field.
Junior shortstop Nick Tanielu finished 3 for 3 with two runs during the win over Redmond. It was Tanielu’s second three-hit game of the day. He was 3 for 4 during the earlier win over Kamiak. Darian Moran finished 3 for 4 with an RBI for the Eagles, including a single in the decisive seventh inning.
After Federal Way scored a single run in the top of the first inning, Redmond tallied the next five runs to take a 5-1 lead.
But the Eagles exploded for four runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game, setting the stage for the seventh-inning heroics.
There would be no late-inning heroics needed during Federal Way’s opener against Kamiak Saturday. The Eagle offense pounded out 14 hits and got the strong pitching performance from Morris. Horsfall added a two-run home run and Tanielu finished a home run away from a cycle.
Kent Reporter’s Erick Walker contributed to this report.
