UPDATE: Shorewood to Play Mount Si in State 3A Baseball Championship

TACOMA – It was the match-up everyone dreamed of as the Class 3A season progressed. On Friday in the 3A state semifinals at Cheney Stadium, top-ranked Camas and second-ranked Shorewood finally met.

Fortunately for the Thunderbirds, Trevor Mitsui and Blake Snell are on their team.

Mitsui’s two-run single and Snell’s complete-game 3-hitter were the difference as Shorewood won 2-1 for a berth in its first-ever state championship. The T-Birds (23-2), riding a 21-game winning streak, face Mount Si at 4 p.m. here Saturday.

“Words can’t describe it,” Shorewood coach Wyatt Tonkin said. “Not only is it great for these kids but for all of the kids that have been in our program.”

Camas (25-1), last year’s runner-up, meets Kamiakin at 10 a.m. here Saturday. The Papermakers arrived at Cheney Stadium having outscoring Glacier Peak and O’Dea 26-5 in the regionals.

But they’d never faced a hitter like Mitsui or a pitcher like Snell.

With the bases loaded and one out in the sixth, Mitsui showed why he’s considered the premier slugger in the state. The Washington commit’s third single went just past the third baseman and into left field, plating Christian Heideger (who reached on an error) and Ben Andrews (walk). (Jeremy Edwards’ successful bunt down the leftfield line had loaded the bases.).

“There was no doubt in my mind that Trevor was going to get one and he was going to hit it hard,” Tonkin said. “He’s the best high school hitter I’ve ever seen. Period.”

As for Snell, he faced the minimum in four innings and struck out three batters in an inning twice. The left-hander’s only real trouble came in the bottom of the seventh.

Logan Grindy led off with a towering home run just inside the rightfield foul pole to get the Papermakers on the board. Kurt Yinger walked, reached second on a wild pitch and advanced to third after a fielder’s choice.

“I wasn’t nervous, I was just amped up,” said Snell, who asked for Tonkin to come out to the mound to settle him down. “I just needed to get loose again.”

But Snell (10 strikeouts, four walks on 95 pitches) struck out Jeremy Faulkner and got pinch hitter Chad Spring to fly out to right field to end the rainy affair.

“Blake threw fantastic – which I knew he would,” Tonkin said. “I was sticking with him, no matter what, in that seventh inning.”

Even when Snell got in a bind, he brilliantly got out of it.

For instance, in the third, he walked Conner King to lead off but later picked him off second. In the next inning, Snell gave up a double to Austin Barr and hit Grindy, but then calmly struck out Yinger and Alex Hows to end the inning.

The Washington commit, who improved to 9-0 and now has 128 strikeouts in 63 innings, wasn’t alone in ending jams.

After walking Jeremy Faulkner in the fifth, Snell fielded a grounder by King and threw to Andrews at third base. Andrews then chased down Faulkner (who reached second on a wild pitch) between second and third. A 6-4-3 double play followed to end the inning.

Yinger, Camas’ ace who is headed to UC Santa Barbara, allowed 10 hits and had three strikeouts with two walks. Only one run was earned as the Papermakers commited three errors.

The T-Birds, who stranded 11 of their 13 baserunners in the game, had their own misfortunes trying to unlock the scoreless game.

In the fourth, Heideger bunted Max Jacobs (who reached on a fielding error) to second. Jacobs, however, was thrown out at the plate by the right fielder after trying to score on Andrews’ single.

Hendrickson singled to centerfield in the fifth and Conner McKeever doubled to the left-centerfield gap, but both were stranded.

These squandered opportunities were understandable considering the opponent.

“They’re the best team I’ve faced – by far,” Snell said. “I can see why they were undefeated.”

Added Mitsui: “They were the toughest team we faced all year – and their record showed that.”

Shorewood still hasn’t lost to a 3A team this season and has guaranteed itself the highest finish in school history. (Shorewood placed third in 2001.)

“It feels so good,” said Snell, who threw a 1-hitter but lost 1-0 in the 4A semifinal game a year ago against Richland. “We’ve worked so hard and had long practices. It’s just a relief to finally be there.”