The Emerald Ridge High Jaguars had yet to be truly challenged this season.

But when they finally met up with a Camas High Papermakers team that matched them blow-for-blow in the West Central District Class 4A district title game on Monday night at Sprinker Recreation Fields, the Jaguars proved to be up to the task.

Emerald Ridge scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to upend Camas, 2-1, and lock up the district title and the No. 1 seed to this weekend’s 4A state tournament in Spokane. Camas will go as the No. 2 seed.

After not …

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Some had to wait an extra day to see if they could punch their ticket to the state baseball playoffs.

Apparently the rain falls harder up north, because White River (2A in Bellingham) and Cascade Christian (1A in Anacortes) had their regional baseball tournaments postponed until Sunday.

Facing one of the hottest pitchers in the state in Derrick Mahlum, White River fell to Archbishop Murphy, 2-0, in the regional semifinals at Martin Stadium.

Zander Clouse gave the Wildcats all the scoring they would need with an RBI single off Hornets’ starting pitcher Cole Johnson in the third inning for a …

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The timing couldn’t have been much worse.

Nearly all the elements that helped the Puyallup Vikings capture the South Puget Sound League and West Central District title this season were virtually nonexistent Saturday afternoon in the regional round of the Class 4A state baseball playoffs at Heidelberg Park.

Puyallup struggled at the plate, in the field and on the basepaths in a season-ending 3-0 loss to Heritage.

“Anything can happen in this game, and it just wasn’t the right time to not be very good,” Puyallup coach Marc Wiese said. “We made some young mistakes early on, and we made …

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Deja-vu?

In more ways than one for the Auburn Mountainview High School baseball team.

A week after rallying from eight runs down to SPSL 3A rival Peninsula to win the West Central District crown, the Lions were in almost the same situation Saturday night – with a final-four state berth on the line.

And in the seventh inning, the Lions rallied for another 9-8 victory, this time over Decatur in the regional finals at Ed Wheeler Field in Centralia.

The Lions will meet Kennewick in the 3A state semifinals at GESA Stadium in Pasco on Friday afternoon.

But first, they …

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Kyle Witzel is the designated 60-yard shooter for the Sedro-Woolley High School boys’ soccer team.

That might seem like a desperation ploy on the surface – a do-or-die prayer shot at the end of varsity matches. But the Cubs not only have it in their game plan – they actually practice it.

And six seconds into the second half, Witzel hammered a long shot over the head of goalkeeper Henry Leenstra for the match’s lone goal, and Sedro-Woolley shocked Sumner, 1-0, in a Class 2A state quarterfinal at Sunset Chev Stadium on Saturday.

Sedro-Woolley moves on to the 2A semifinals …

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Score one for the hungry challengers Saturday at the Class 2A West Central District track and field championships.

The rarest of events occurred – Steilacoom High School’s Daniel Zmuda was shut out in the finals of both hurdles races at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner.

In the 110-meter hurdles, White River’s Devin Liebel blasted out of the blocks and easily won in a state-leading time of 13.98 seconds – easily a personal-best mark.

And about 90 minutes later, North Mason’s Craig Allen went out aggressively in the first turn, came around the bend in the lead and never looked back …

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The Emerald Ridge High School Jaguars were just six outs away from the promised land of Spokane.

And then came the rain.

A heavy downpour halted the Class 4A West Central/Southwest Bi-District Softball Tournament – and the Jaguars’ hopes of securing a bid to next weekend’s state tournament – on Friday, pushing all remaining games at Sprinker Recreation Center to Saturday morning.

Weather permitting, the Jaguars and Falcons will finish their game at 9 a.m., along with any other unfinished games that started at 4 p.m. Friday. Games that were to be played at 6 p.m. will be made up …

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When asked early Friday to handicap the Class 4A state boys’ track and field team championship race at next weekend’s Star Track, one head coach succinctly replied, “It’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

Well suddenly after the first day of the West Central/Southwest District championships at French Field in Kent, the dwarfs look a bit taller.

Based on its long list of impressive invitational victories this season, the Federal Way High Schools boys came into the postseason as the school to beat across the state.

State championships are not won on paper, and in a matter of minutes, the …

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