First Round Set - Playoffs Start Saturday

The KingCo 4A's "second season" starts on Saturday when the KingCo playoffs get underway. A quick look at the last regular season game, which was played Thursday night...

Inglemoor 5, Lake Washington 0 - Six Inglemoor pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout, as the Vikings completed a 14-2 regular season with a 5-0 win over the Kangs. Seniors Scott Meyers and Ethan Yeo led the way offensively for Inglemoor, with Meyers going 2-for-3 with a homer and an RBI and Yeo driving in 2 runs. For Lake Washington, Bob Cruikshank had his fifth straight multi-hit game, picking up two singles on the night.

So, the playoff matchups are set, with the entire first round scheduled for Saturday, 5/8 at Woodinville HS. You can view the entire tournament bracket here. A first round preview will follow, but here's a rundown of the schedule:

KingCo 4A Tournament - First Round Schedule
10:00 am - Woodinville (8-8, Crown #3) vs. Issaquah (12-4, Crest #2)
1:00 pm - Skyline (7-9, Crest #4) vs. Inglemoor (14-2, Crown #1)
4:00 pm - Newport (11-5, Crest #3) vs. Bothell (10-6, Crown #2)
7:00 pm - Lake Washington (7-9, Crown #4) vs. Redmond (12-4, Crest #1)

Rain Delays Final Seeding

With the KingCo Tournament set to start on Saturday, two playoff-bound teams are still trying to finish up their regular seasons. The Inglemoor - Lake Washington game originally scheduled for Tuesday has been rained out on consecutive nights. It is now scheduled to be played tonight (Thursday 5/6) at 8:00 pm at Lee Johnson Field. Inglemoor locked up the Crown Division over two weeks ago, and will head into the tourney as the division's #1 seed. Lake Washington clinched a berth in the playoffs on Friday, but their seeding is still to be determined. A Kangs win tonight would give them the #3 seed in the Crown Division (thanks to winning a coin toss with Woodinville), while a loss would drop them to #4.

Here's how the first round of the playoffs lay out:

Saturday, May 8th
10:00 am - Woodinville/LW (Crown #3) vs. Issaquah (Crest #2)
1:00 pm - Skyline (Crest #4) vs. Inglemoor (Crown #1)
4:00 pm - Newport (Crest #3) vs. Bothell (Crown #2)
7:00 pm - Woodinville/LW (Crown #4) vs. Redmond (Crest #1)

Redmond Wins Crest; Woodinville in Playoffs

Two of Tuesday's games had a direct impact on the KingCo playoffs, with the Crest Division title and the final playoff spot in the Crown Division on the line:

Games affecting KingCo Tourney

• Redmond 3, Issaquah 1 - Junior Zach Abbruzza stymied the Issaquah bats for the second consecutive time, and Redmond scored twice in the top of the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie and clinch the Crest Division championship with a 3-1 win over Issaquah. Abbruzza outdueled Issaquah ace Shane Yarnell, allowing just three hits and an unearned run while striking out 8. The loss was the first of the season for Yarnell, who didn't allow an earned run in his seven innings of work. T.J. Whidby had two RBI for the Mustangs, who earned the top seed from the Crest Division and will play the #4 seed from the Crown at 7:00 pm on Saturday.
• Woodinville 5, Ballard 3 - The Falcons got three hits each from seniors Jake Dammrose and Connor Jones, clinching a playoff spot with a 5-3 win over Ballard. Senior right hander Luke Taylor worked 5 1/3 strong innings for the win, which even Woodinville's league record at 8-8. Oliver Guarino was 2-for-4 and Brendan Foor drove in 2 runs for the Beavers, who saw their playoff dreams end. Woodinville will enter the KingCo tourney as the #3 or #4 seed, pending the result of the Inglemoor-Lake Washington game tonight, which is scheduled for 8:00 pm at Lee Johnson Field.

Other Tuesday Results

• Newport 15, Eastlake 1 - Newport (11-5) enters the KingCo tourney as the #3 seed from the Crest Division; Eastlake's season ends at 1-15.
• Bothell 8, Roosevelt 0 - Bothell's win gives them six straight, and they will head into the KingCo tournament as perhaps the hottest team in the league. They finish 10-6 and as the Crown's #2 seed, will take on Newport at 4:00 pm on Saturday in the first round on the playoffs. Roosevelt finishes their season at 3-13.
• Garfield 5, Skyline 4 - Skyline's loss did nothing to change their standing, as they enter the KingCo tournament as the #4 seed from the Crest Division at 7-9. Garfield's season ends with a record of 5-11.

Week 6 KingCo Awards

KingCo 4A Baseball - Players of the Week
Week 6: April 26 - May 1, 2010

Crest Division
Player of the Week: Shane Yarnell, Sr.,, Issaquah
Senior Shane Yarnell picks up his second Crest Division player of the week award this season for his 9-RBI performance in Issaquah's 3-0 week. Yarnell finished the week 6-for-10 (.600) with a double, home run and four runs scored to go along with his 9 RBI. He was key to the Eagles' big victory over rival Newport, hitting a three-run home run and driving in six. Yarnell has also collected two pitcher of the week awards, and is hitting .435 with 4 doubles, 2 home runs and a KingCo leading 24 RBI in league play this season.

Also nominated: Jack Jajewski, Garfield

Pitcher of the Week: Spencer Rogers, Sr., Issaquah
The Eagles continue their domination of the weekly KingCo awards, with senior Spencer Rogers winning the pitcher of the week award for week 6. Rogers tossed a no-hitter in Issaquah's 11-0 win over Redmond, facing the minimum number of batters in 6 innings of work. The right-hander walked three and struck out 7 to knock the Knights out of division championship contention. Rogers, who was the Crest Division player of the week in week 3, sports a 5-1 record on the season with an ERA of 2.29.

Also nominated: None

Crown Division
Player of the Week: Theo Alexander, Soph., Lake Washington
Kangs sophomore Theo Alexander is the winner of the Crown Division player of the week for week 6. Alexander broke out in a big way, going 6-for-10 (.600) with three doubles, a home run, 5 runs scored and 5 RBI for Lake Washington in their playoff-clinching week. He also walked twice and stole three bases. In KingCo play this season, Alexander is hitting .324 with 9 runs scored, 10 RBI and 7 stolen bases.

Also nominated: Bob Cruikshank, LW; Ethan Yeo, Inglemoor

Pitcher of the Week: Spencer Trautman, Sr., Inglemoor
For his 5-inning shutout against Ballard, senior left-hander Spencer Trautman wins the second Crown Division pitcher of the week award for the Vikings this year, joining junior Dustin Doucette. Trautman allowed just 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out four to help Inglemoor in their 11-0 win over Balard. Trautman improved to 2-0 with a 2.69 ERA in league play with his week 6 performance.

Also nominated: Obidiah Taylor, Inglemoor

Playoff Outlook

Just one day of regular season games remain before the KingCo 4A tournament, which starts on Saturday, May 8th. While seven of the eight playoff teams have been determined, much is still left to be determined in terms of seeding into the playoffs. Here's a quick look as to how each division lines up as of today:

Crest Division
In the playoffs:
Issaquah (12-3)
Redmond (11-4)
Newport (10-5)
Skyline (7-8)

Eliminated from playoffs:
Garfield (4-11)
Eastlake (1-14)

Scenarios:
The Redmond-Issaquah game on Tuesday will determine the Crest Division championship and the top seed from the Crest into the KingCo tournament - winner take all. If Redmond wins, Issaquah will be the #2 seed and Newport the #3. An Issaquah win combined with a Newport win over Eastlake would put the Knights at #2 and Redmond as the #3 (based on a regular season sweep for Newport over Redmond). Skyline is locked in as the #4 seed.


Crown Division
In the playoffs:
Inglemoor (13-2)
Bothell (9-6)
Lake Washington (7-8)

In contention:
Woodinville (7-8)
Ballard (6-9)

Eliminated from playoffs:
Roosevelt (3-12)

Scenarios:
Inglemoor is the Crown Division champion and will face off with Skyline in the first round of the playoffs. Bothell has secured the #2 seed and will take on the third seed from the Crest in round 1. Lake Washington has clinched a playoff berth, as they would win a three-way tie between themselves, Woodinville and Ballard based on head-to-head records between the teams. Based on Tuesday's results, they could get in as either the #3 or #4 seed. Woodinville and Ballard face each other on Tuesday with the final playoff spot on the line. A Falcon win would secure the final spot in the tournament, while a win by the Beavers would force a possible one-game playoff.

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Here's a look at the round 1 tournament matchups:

• 10:00 am - Crown #3 vs. Crest #2
• 1:00 pm - Skyline (Crest #4) vs. Inglemoor (Crown #1)
• 4:00 pm - Crest #3 vs. Bothell (Crown #2)
• 7:00 pm - Crown #4 vs. Crest #1