Decatur’s baseball team earned the sixth and final seed to state from West Central District and knew they would have an even tougher challenge than most in the state playoffs. They had to travel a bit further as they went to Yakima to take on the Wenatchee Panthers.
Wenatchee was 19-2 going into the game and won 17 straight games. They won the Big 9 conference championship going away. Washingtonbaseballpoll.com ranked them as the No. 2 team in the state.
None of that phased the Gators as they picked up a 3-1 win to open the state playoffs at Yakima County Stadium.
Garrett Westberg was once again dominant on the mound as he pitched six two-third innings, gave up six hits, two walks and struck out eight batters. His two-out double brought home two runs to give the Gators the lead in the sixth inning.
Isaiah Hatch drove in the other RBI in the game for the Gators and picked up the save.
Decatur moved on to play the top seed from the district 5/8 playoffs, the Walla Walla Blue Devils. Wa-Hi was 17-6 and finished fourth in the Mid-Columbia Conference, but was the top 4A team in the conference.
Decatur sent Taylor Havlicek to the mound for the first time in weeks against the Blue Devils. Havlicek injured his wrist and had been out since their game against Beamer on April 20.
“He’s thrown some bullpen in practice,” Decatur head coach Korey Sites said. “But he hadn’t faced live game action for four weeks.”
Havlicek went for a full seven innings as the Gators picked up the 4-2 win. He gave up four hits, one walk and struck out four batters. Wa-Hi only managed a run apiece in the first and seventh innings on him.
“It was a gutty performance,” Sites said. “It was way beyond any expectations I could have set for him coming back from injury.”
Havlicek, much like Westberg in the previous game, helped his cause with two RBIs in the game. Freshman Timothy Hughes had two of Decatur’s six hits and also one RBI.
“We played really good baseball this weekend,” Sites said. “There were very few errors, both mental and physical. It was clean, smart baseball.”
Decatur will meet fellow West Central District member South Kitsap in the state semi-finals. The Wolves were champions of the Narrows League and West Central District. They have been to the state finals each of the past two seasons.
“We’ve faced South Kitsap each of the last two preseasons and they’re always tough,” said Sites. “It’s up to us to play to our potential. When we do, we can beat anyone. We’re excited to be here. Hopefully we can represent the city well.”
For the third time in four years, the semi-finals will feature three teams from the West Central District. Decatur and South Kitsap are joined by Gig Harbor and the KingCo champions, Newport. It was almost entirely comprised of West Central District teams as Newport needed extra innings to beat Puyallup.
The semi-finals and finals were moved from Pasco’s Gesa Stadium to Joe Martin Stadium in Bellingham due to fungus compromising the field at Gesa Stadium.
Decatur and South Kitsap will open the semi-finals at 4 p.m. Friday. Newport and Gig Harbor are scheduled to follow at 7 p.m. The winners will meet in the state championship at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, while the losers will face each other in the third/fourth place game the same day at 1 p.m.
Garrett Westberg picked up the win against Wenatchee. He struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings pitched. Contributed photo
Taylor Havlicek pitched a complete game against Walla Walla. It was his first game pitching since late April. Contributed photo
Decatur’s Timothy Hughes was 2-3 with an RBI against Walla Walla. Hughes was named player of the game for his offensive and defensive efforts. Contributed photo
