4A State Baseball Final Four Preview
The Washington baseball 4A final four is going to battle May 25-26 at Gesa Stadium in Pasco. In game
1 at 4:00 pm the 21-5 Richland Bombers tangle with the 21-5 Vikings from Puyallup
high school. In game 2 at 7:00 pm the 17-6 Beamer high Titans battle the powerhouse 23-2 Kentwood Conquerors. The two losers will then square off in the 3rd place game at 1:00 pm on
Saturday. The championship is set for 7:00 pm on Saturday night. We will take a look at all 4 of these stellar ball clubs.
The Richland Bombers roll into their 6th straight final four appearance. The Bombers defeated Mead 11-0 in the opener of regional play, then took out a pesky Gonzaga Prep ball club 6-5 in
the quarterfinals. Richland is led by standout junior pitcher/shortstop Mason Hilty. Mason tossed a 4-hit shutout of Mead in the opener last weekend. Slick fielding senior infielder Corey Morris
is another stalwart for the Bombers. Senior outfielder Connor Moore and senior infielder/pitcher Nate Ruane are also key cogs for the Richland nine.
The Puyallup Vikings rallied to upend top ranked Lake Stevens in the quarterfinals, 10-6. The Viks beat Issaquah 3-1 in their regional opener. Puyallup will be led into battle by pitcher/outfielder
Matt Becker. The senior Becker is 8-1 on the hill, to go with a .470 batting average. The Vikings have another solid hurler in flame throwing junior Ryan Harris, who is 7-1 on the mound this year.
Freshman phenom Brendan Illies, a superb catcher is hitting over.400 on the year. Senior 3rd baseman Lee Larson is another solid stick in the Viks lineup.
The upstart Beamer Titans, out of Federal Way advanced to the semi-finals by beating Jackson high 4-0 in the regional opener, then upending the Tahoma Bears 3-2 in the quarters. The Titans
top gun is senior shortstop/pitcher Brett Oyer. The Titans ace on the mound is senior left hander Matt Bower, who struck out 12 in a complete game shutout of Jackson. Beamer has a couple of
hard hitting outfielders in senior Sam Kosbab and super sophomore Lawyer Braun.
The Kentwood Conquerors made it the final four by defeating the Redmond Mustangs 5-0 in the quarterfinals. Earlier in the day the Conqs disposed of Edmonds-Woodway 8-3. Kentwood is paced
by one of the top juniors in the northwest in catcher Reese McGuire, who is batting over .400 on the season with 33 runs batted in. Reese's older brother Cash McGuire, a senior 2nd baseman, had a
huge day Saturday, going 4-6 with 5 runs batted in. The Conquerors also have two top flight pitchers in seniors Taylor Jones and Skyler Genger.
