Spartans win state berth

Published 10:30 am Saturday, May 27, 2017

SEATTLE – The Bainbridge Spartans are headed to the state championships — again — after a No. 3 finish in the SeaKing District 3A Softball Tournament.

The Spartans outlasted Eastside Catholic 2-1 in Bainbridge’s opening game of the 2017 SeaKing District softball tournament late last week, and punched their ticket to state in the process.

This week’s return to fastpitch’s biggest field of dreams marks the 10th straight trip to the state championships for Bainbridge High.

Against the Crusaders of Eastside Catholic, the No. 3 seed Bainbridge scored first, in the bottom of the first inning, then moved to 2–0 in the bottom of the fourth.

EC found its only offense in the sixth, and Bainbridge held on to win.

Malia Peato pitched six innings and gave up one run and three hits. She notched five strikeouts.

Peato also smacked a homer in the low-scoring affair.

Sara Colley finished on 1-for-3 batting for the Spartans, and brought home Bainbridge’s only other score (Kensey Baker; also 1-for-3).

The victory advanced BHS into a May 18 contest against KingCo’s No. 1 seed Redmond.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, the Mustangs got out of the corral early and kept galloping, galloping away.

Redmond bolted to a 3-0 first-innning advantage, then tacked on two more runs in both the top of the third and fourth innings.

The Mustangs’ final run came in the sixth, and Redmond finished with 13 hits.

In contrast, the Spartans had none, and got to base just twice, on walks.

The loss pushed Bainbridge into a final game last Friday against Lake Washington.

The Kangs hopped out to a 2-1 lead after plating runs in the bottom of the first and third innings.

The Spartans cut L’Dub’s lead in half with a one-run fourth, then put the Kangs away with a three-run fifth inning.

Sara Colley led the Spartan offense. She went 4-for-4, with an RBI and two runs scored.

Maddie Loverich went 1-for-2, while fellow Spartan Olivia Wickstrom added a double and finished 1-for-4 with one RBI.

Malia Peato was 1-for-3 and scored a run.

Peato also picked up the win in the circle for the Spartans. She went seven innings and gave up two runs and eight hits. She also had five strikeouts.

The big win gave the Spartans the No. 3 seed heading into the state 3A championships Friday.