Here is the bracket for the KingCo 3A baseball tournament.

All games will be held at Bannerwood Sports Park in Bellevue.

Tuesday, May 11
Game 1 – 4 p.m. – Liberty (13-7) vs. Sammamish (3-16), loser out
Game 2 – 7 p.m. – Juanita (8-10) vs. Bellevue (5-12), loser out

Thursday, May 13
Game 3 – 4 p.m. – Winner Game 1 vs. Mercer Island (15-6)
Game 4 – 7 p.m. – Winner Game 2 vs. Mount Si (17-4)

Friday, May 14
Game 5 - 7 p.m. – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 (Winner is KingCo champion and earns an automatic state berth.

Saturday, May 15
Game 6 – 1 p.m. – Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 7 – 4 p.m. – Loser Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 (Winner is KingCo No.2 to play against Metro No.3 for state berth)

Newport senior Kelsey Moore has signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Western Washington University in the fall.
Moore was the team captain as a senior at Newport, despite being hampered the entire season by a severe ankle sprain. She was second-team All-KingCo 4A as a junior and the team MVP.
“Kelsey is a great addition to our volleyball team both on the court and in the classroom,” said Vikings coach Diane Flick. “She will provide some great depth to our outside hitter position as she has good ball control, a quick first step and, at 6-foot-1, adds height to the net.”
Flick also said a redshirt year for Moore would be “great for her development”.

As always, we like to catch you up with what you may have missed this weekend.

Softball
Bellevue celebrated senior night with a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over Liberty on Friday. Bellevue (14-5, 10-2) built an early 3-0 lead and Emily Fleischman had a one-hitter going into the seventh inning before Liberty’s Denise Blohowiak belted a grand slam to put the Patriots up 4-3. Liberty added another run to take a 5-3 lead into the bottom half of the inning.
Bellevue chipped away at the lead and eventually put the tying run at third base when senior Kelly Meggs hit an RBI infield single to tie the game. Only a great play by Liberty shortstop Alexis Court kept the ball in the infield and prevented the winning run to score.
The next batter, Anjani Briggs, belted a fastball on an 0-1 count to centerfield to score the winning run.

Interlake topped Mount Si 6-5 on Friday as the Saints scored in the bottom of the eighth inning for the win. Stefanie Rabitoy got the win for the Saints. Chandler Smidt went 2 for 3 with two runs scored for Interlake.

Boys Lacrosse
Brett Menella scored with 2:27 remaining in overtime to help Bellevue beat Issaquah Friday night. Menella’s goal, his second of the night, beat Issaquah’s O’Neil Hughes for the winner. Cole Nordstrom sent the game to overtime for the Wolverines with a goal with just 1:56 remaining in the game. At 16-2 and 12-0 in conference play, Bellevue remains tied with Mercer Island for the Northeast Conference lead.

Girls Lacrosse
Both Bellevue and Forest Ridge lost Friday night, to Snohomish and Seattle Prep respectively. At 2-11, Forest Ridge will not make the playoffs, while Bellevue takes the seventh seed for Division I with a record of 6-6-1.

Baseball
Mount Si pounded out eight runs on nine hits to beat Interlake 9-2 Friday. Rossco Castagno had three stolen bases, hit a home run and scored two runs himself in the win for the Wildcats.

Newport couldn’t hold on to a 7-2 lead, as Bothell scored six times in the bottom of the sixth inning to stun the Knights 9-7 in the first round of the KingCo 4A baseball tournament. Newport managed just two hits, but took the lead thanks to six errors by the cougars and numerous hit-by-pitches. The Knights play a loser-out game against Lake Washington tonight at 7 p.m. at Inglemoor High School.

Bellevue Christian beat Kingston 6-4 Saturday. No stats were available.

The KingCo 3A soccer tournament begins tonight and it’s assured that a team from Bellevue will play in Wednesday night’s championship game.

Here’s the breakdown.

KingCo 3A soccer tournament
*Mount Si, the regular season champions, earn an automatic state berth. They will not play until the state tournament.

Monday, May 10
At Mercer Island High School

Game 1: No.3 Sammamish vs. No. 4 Bellevue (loser out)
Game 2: No.2 Mercer Island vs. No. 5 Juanita (loser out)

Wednesday, May 12
At the home site of the highest remaining seed
Championship game: Winner game 1 vs. Winner game 2

Winner is KingCo 3A tournament champion and plays at home in a winner to state, loser-out pigtail game against a Metro League team on Saturday, May 15.

Saturday marks the beginning of the KingCo 4A baseball tournament. Time sure does fly doesn’t it?

The format of the tournament is the same as last season – the top four teams from the Crest and Crown divisions play in a double-elimination tournament at Woodinville High School.

Lake Washington’s game against Inglemoor rained out both Tuesday and Wednesday. They’ll try to play again tonight and the result of that game will determine the final seeding for the round robin tournament.

If LW wins tonight, they’ll take the Crown No. 3 spot and play Issaquah. If they lose, Woodinville takes that spot. Newport is firmly in the No. 3 position in the crest and will play Crown No. 2 Bothell Saturday at 4 p.m. Don’t forget last season, the Knights came into the tournament unheralded and went on a huge run that took them all the way to the final four at Safeco Field.

Monday brings loser-out games and semifinal match ups.

The championship game is Thursday at Woodinville. The tournament champions get an automatic state berth while the loser will host the Greater St. Helen’s No. 2 team on May 15 in a winner-to-state, loser-out game.

The team that finishes third in the tournament will travel to play the Greater St. Helen’s League champion the same day in a winner-to-state, loser-out tilt.

KingCo 4A baseball tournament
Saturday, May at Woodinville High School
Game 1 – 10 a.m.: Issaquah (16-4) vs. Woodinville/Lake Washington
Game 2 – 1 p.m.: Inglemoor (16-3) vs. Skyline (9-10)
Game 3 – 4 p.m.: Bothell (14-6) vs. Newport (12-7)
Game 4 – 7 p.m.: Redmond (15-5) vs. Woodinville/Lake Washington

Monday, May 10  at Woodinville High School (unless otherwise marked)
Game 5 – 4 p.m.: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, at Inglemoor (loser out)
Game 6 – 7 p.m.: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, at Inglemoor (loser out)
Game 7 – 4 p.m.: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 8 – 7 p.m.: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

Tuesday, May 11 at Woodinville High School
Game 9 – 4 p.m.: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8 (loser out)
Game 10 – 7 p.m.: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7 (loser out)

Thursday, May 13 at Woodinville High School
Game 11 – 4 p.m.: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 (loser out) – Winner plays at GSHL No.1 in a winner-to-state game on Saturday, May 15
Game 12 – 7 p.m.: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 – Winner is District 2/4 No.1 to state, loser plays host to GSHL No.2 in a winner-to-state, loser-out game on Saturday, May 15.

I have to post the Week’s Top Performers a day early, as I’ll be out of the office tomorrow as I journey to Spokane to watch my brother graduate from pharmacy school. He’s buying all the dinners from now on.

Emily Fleischman, Bellevue                    Chad Coleman/Bellevue Reporter

Softball
Kelly Meggs drove in two runs and blasted a triple to help Bellevue beat Interlake 13-8 in hail and ran on Monday night. Katie Savard, Marika McCarthy and Corri McAllister all had RBIs for the Wolverines. Cady Buscher went 3 for 4 for the Saints in the loss. Meghan Ness scored two runs. Emily Fleischman had the win for the Wolverines.

Amanda Klug went 4 for 5 with four RBI and scored two runs herself but Bellevue Christian beat Forest Ridge 13-12 Monday. Amanda Friemel went 3 for 4 with three RBI and a double for the Vikings. She also struck out 13 on the mound to get the win.

Bellevue creamed Bellevue Christian 17-0 on Wednesday night. Marika McCarthy and Katie Savard each had three hits in the game. McCarthy scored three runs. Emily Fleischman allowed just one hit in the win.

Girls Lacrosse
Conley Nemyre scored three goals but Bellevue lost 19-7 to Lakeside in Division I lacrosse Monday.

Allie Wilson scored six goals and Kayla Miller had four but Bellevue East lost to Eastside Catholic 22-18 in a high-scoring Division II affair on Wednesday.

Tennis
Angela Chen and Rixing Xu picked up wins in singles but Newport‘s girls tennis team lost to Mercer Island 5-2 Monday.

Baseball
Alex Bielaski went 2 for 3 with an RBI but Mercer Island beat Bellevue 6-1 in KingCo 3A/2A baseball action.

Ryan Fitzpatrick and Rajan Hanstad each knocked in two runs as the Bellevue Christian Vikings beat Cascade Christian 11-10 at Bannerwood Park on Monday. The Vikings scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for the win. Nat Townsend picked up the win on the mound, going just 1/3 of an inning.

Trace Tam Sing hit two triples and knocked in five runs in Newport’s 15-1 win over Eastlake on Tuesday. Jared Fisher homered for Newport. Jeffrey Gonzales picked up the win.

Girls Golf
Jessica Parker shot a 45 to medal during Interlake’s girls golf match against Issaquah Monday at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course. Issaquah beat the Saints by just three strokes.

Newport swept the top five spots in a big win against Issaquah Tuesday at Snoqualmie Golf Course. Winners were: 1, Nicole Lomax, 38 strokes; 2, Jamie Kirsala, 42; 3, Jessica Kent, 43; 4, Katie O‘Neil, 45; 5, Kelly Lee, 46.

Alayna Herring shot a 44 to tie for third in Sammamish‘s loss to Eastlake on Tuesday.

Jessica Parker medaled again, this time shooting a 40, as Interlake nearly swept the top five against Garfield Tuesday. Katie Walker took second with a 46, Ellen Howie shot a 48 to finish third and Hailey Dolmseth took fourth with a 53.

Boys Golf
Chase Foster shot a 41 to finish third for Bellevue Christian in a Emerald City League match against Cedar Park Christian Tuesday. Matt Trueblood finished fourth with a 43 and Ryan Johnson took fifth with a 46.

Boy Soccer
Nick Rooney scored a goal in the 80th minute as Sammamish escaped with a 3-2 win against Liberty on Tuesday. Duncan Dickerson scored two goals for the Totems in the win.

The day is finally here.

Over the past few months, I’ve written about how, inspired by former subjects Ed and Linda Sproull, I’d decided to tackle the Kirkland Half-Marathon, along with my wife.

After months of training, the day is finally here. On Sunday, I’ll be trudging through 13.1 miles of road, something I’ve never done before.

As I sit typing out this story, little more than 96 hours before the race begins, I’m feeling confident. It’s not a question of if I’ll finish – my will won’t let me quit – just a matter of how long it will take.

Through all the miles of training, all the days I’ve had to will myself to put on my running shoes and hit the pavement, I’ve figured a little something out.
For a few weeks, May 9 looked like a final destination.  Along the way I discovered that Sunday is less of an endpoint and more of a starting point. This journey has once again showed me I can push myself out of my comfort zone. I can keep going when it hurts. I can persevere.

I remember vividly one thing Ed told me when we sat out on the deck on that warm day in late May last year.

“It’s about the journey, not the destination,” Ed told me.

He was right. My journey’s just beginning.

Looks like the rain knocked out some of the games this weekend. But the fun part of the spring should truly begin now as the regular season winds down and the chase to the playoffs begins. Here’s a look at some of the highlights from the games and contests that did get played this past weekend.

Lacrosse
Cole Nordstrom had four goals, one assist and seven ground balls as Bellevue beat Lakeside 15-8 Friday in Division I action.

Sammamish beat North County 6-3 in Division II lacrosse. No scoring details were available.

Golf
Catelyn Webber shot a 43 to medal at the West Seattle Golf Course Friday, helping Bellevue to victory over Roosevelt. Webber was the only golfer in the 40s. Teammate Arden Phillips took 2nd with a 52. Bellevue swept the top-five.

Girls Tennis
Anissa Bryant-Swift and Malia Lum both picked up singles victories for Sammamish in a pair of matches against Garfield and Juanita on Friday.

Audrey Motto, Grace Hsieh, Chelsea Bucklin and Amy Yasutake all picked up singles wins in Interlake’s 6-1 win over Mount Si on Friday. The doubles teams of Nichelle Song and Maggie Locke and Mackenzie Kuipers and Shadine Rassaian had doubles victories for the Saints.

Baseball
Ryan Fitzpatrick went 4 for 4 with four RBI but Bellevue Christian fell to rival Cedar Park Christian 14-13 on Friday. Nat Townsend hit a home run for the Vikings.

Softball
The Newport bats and Jessica Barry went crazy on Friday, as the Knights exploded to beat Garfield 21-1.  Barry went 3 for 4 with a home run and eight RBI in the win. Indiana Coxey knocked in two runs and scored two herself. On the mound, Barry kept the Bulldogs off balance, allowing just two hits while striking 10 of the 15 batters she faced.

Kelly Meggs had two doubles and two RBI, Jessica Yamaura added another and Marika MacCarthy scored two runs in Bellevue’s 11-1 KingCo 3A/2A win over Sammamish on Friday. Emily Fleischman improved to 11-4 on the season by getting the win on the mound. She allowed just two hits over five innings.

Amanda Friemel went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI and Alina Rudolph also knocked in three runs but Forest Ridge fell to University Prep 11-9 Friday.

Soccer
Ahmed Marouti scored two goals and Race Sciabica added another as Bellevue blanked Juanita 3-0 on Friday in Kirkland. Alex Drewenskus and Kasra Tayebi combined for the shutout for the Wolverines.

Miguel Castillo and Ozzy Talantuli both scored goals but Interlake lost to Mercer Island 5-2 Friday.

Corneliu Leremie scored an unassisted goal to help Newport to a 1-1 draw with Skyline Friday.

Track and Field
Mackenzie Altig won three individual events and was part of a first place relay team as the Bellevue Christian girls won the Bellevue Christian Invitational on Saturday, outdistancing second place Seattle Academy by 40 points. Altig won the 100 meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump, and was part of the Vikings 4×400 relay team that took first as well. Teammate Bree Oldham won the 300 meter hurdles. The Bellevue Christian boys finished fourth at the meet.

Qiaoyi (Joy) Zhang finished sixth in the high jump and her teammates Olivia Domini (fourth, pole vault) and Michelle Domini (fifth, pole vault) of Interlake were the highest area finishers at the Lake Washington Invitational on Saturday.

Bellevue’s Tanner Lien took fifth in the javelin, Michael Williams took sixth in the 1,600 meters, teammate Anthony Monahan took seventh in the 110 meter hurdles and Willie Gervais finished sixth in the shot put as the Bellevue athletes were the highest finishers for the area at the Shoreline Invitational Saturday. Bellevue’s sprint medley team (Will Fields, Tyrell Moulton, Freddie Levine, Ari Morales) finished sixth. Wes Zhao finished ninth in the pole vault for Interlake.

Off we go…

Boys Lacrosse
Brett Mennella scored five goals to lead Bellevue to a 11-4 Division I win over Curtis on Monday.

Girls Lacrosse
Samantha Gunnerson made eight saves but Kennedy dropped Bellevue East 17-12 Monday in Division II lacrosse action.

Malena Harrang, Kelly Brennan and Haley Meier all scored three goals but Forest Ridge came up short to Bellevue 16-13 Wednesday in Division I lacrosse.

Baseball
Jo Jo Howie and Nat Townsend each clubbed in two RBI as the Bellevue Christian Vikings beat Overlake 9-4 Monday at Bannerwood. Townsend also got the win on the mound for the Vikings.

Trace Tam Sing homored but Newport lost to Skyline 3-1 Monday.

Brett Berkey hit a home run and knocked in four runs as the Sammamish offense exploded in a 20-11 win over Mercer Island Thursday. Rick Teegarden drove in three runs and went 4 for 5 for Sammamish. The Totems scored 11 runs in the top of the first inning.

Dan Altchech and Reid Dilley hit long balls in Newport’s 6-1 win over Garfield Thursday. Jeffrey Gonzales struck out 11 in five innings and allowed just two hits for the win.

Softball
Anjani Briggs knocked in three runs and Lisa Bennett and Taylor Cooke each added two RBI as Bellevue beat up Mercer Island 17-0 on Monday.

Taylor Cooke hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to put Bellevue ahead for good in a 5-4 win over first-place Juanita on Wednesday. Cooke knocked in two RBI. Emily Fleischman picked up the win for the Wolverines, allowing four runs and eight hits.

Golf
Catelyn Webber shot a 39 to medal as Bellevue beat Woodinville 248 strokes to 280 Wednesday at Bellevue Golf Course. Katie Thomas shot a 48 to finish second, Arden Phillips took third with a 50 while Hannah Davenport took fifth with a 52.

Alayna Herring shot a 47 to finish third Wednesday as Sammmaish fell to Skyline 255 strokes to 286. Amy Ishida took fourth by shooting a 53.

Newport swept the top-five in a 204-320 victory over Garfield at Newcastle Golf Course on Wednesday. Nicole Lomax shot a 38 to take first, Jamie Kirsila finished second with a 40 and Hannah Christian took third with a 41. Isabel Chien finished fourth with a 42 and Maddie Hall took fifth with a 43.

Jessica Parker shot a 45 to take third on Thursday during Interlake’s match against Redmond at Bear Creek Golf Course.

Isabel Chien took first with a 39 in Newport’s golf win over Eastlake on Thursday. Jamie Kirsila and Jessica Kent were part of a three-way tie for third with a 45.

Alayna Herring medaled with a 42 in Sammamish’s match loss to Liberty Thursday at Maplewood Golf Course .

Soccer
Corneliu Leremie scored in the 54th minute as the Knights forged a 1-1 draw with Inglemoor on Tuesday.

Ryan Harber scored twice to help Bellevue to a 2-2 draw Tuesday with Interlake. Sunjay Bhatia and Miguel Castillo scored goals for the Saints.

Tennis
Angela Chen, Amie Vo and Rixing Xu of Newport all picked up singles wins in the Knights 6-1 win over Interlake on Thursday. All three of Newport’s doubles teams won as well. Nichelle Song picked up the only win for the Saints in singles.

Caroline Spencer and Rachel Perna of Forest Ridge beat Emily Anderson and Priyanka Jain of University Prep 6-3, 3-6, 10-1 in Emerald City League tennis action Thursday. Prep beat the Ravens 4-1.

Track
*Note: Track results sometimes don’t come in with first names attached. In that case, I’ve just put in last names.

Skyline beat Sammamish 110-25 in boys track Thursday. Sammamish winners were Uug in the pole vault (9-6), Swartz in the 100 (11.2), Williams in the 200 (23.0) and Ttea in the 800 (2:10.8). The Totems 400 relay team won in 45.6. The Spartan girls beat the Totems 128-18. Morgan was the only Sammamish winner, taking the pole vault.

Bellevue’s Willie Gervais won both the shot put (50-7.5) and the discus (121-3.5) as the Wolverines beat Mercer Island 112-33 in boys track and field. Other Bellevue winners were Tanner (javelin), Leopando (high jump), Holton (long jump, triple jump), Erickson (pole vault), Anthony Monahan (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles), Moulton (100), Freddie Levine (200), Thomas (400), Woolsey (800), Matthews (1,600) and Michael Williams (3,200). The Bellevue 400 relay team won as well. The Bellevue girls beat the Islanders 88-54. Jackie Hamilton won the shot put with a toss of 32-5. Other winners: Anderson (high jump), Suzuki (long jump, triple jump), Head (pole vault), Sutton (100), Casey Warendorf (1,600), and Lewis (3,200). Bellevue won the 800 and 1,600 relays as well.

Interlake’s Andy Agus won both the shot put (46-1.5) and the discus (116-4) to help the Saints beat Garfield 85-60 on Thursday. Wesley Zhao took the pole vault for the Saints and Bobby Mueller won the 110 hurdles, the 300 hurdles and also helped the Saints win both the 400 and 1,6000 relay. Other Interlake winners included Ashish Suntosh in the 800 and Ivan Leniski in the 3,200. The Interlake girls also won, led by multi-event winner Brenda Agus in the discus (100-5) and the javelin (88-1). Other winners were Shaniqua Clark (shot put), Joy Zhang (high jump), Olivia Domini (ppole vault), Montana Malarkey-Kessler (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles), Summer Hanson (400) and Nadia Lucas (1,600). Interlake won the 1,600 relay.

The Blue Jays have called up Newport grad Rommie Lewis to the Major League club.
Lewis, 27, is the eighth Newport graduate to reach the Major Leagues. As I noted in the quick story, the Blue Jays are scheduled to visit Seattle in May and if Lewis is still with the club I will be sure to head over to Safeco to catch up with him.
Lewis was originally drafted by the Orioles in the fourth round of the 2001 draft. Lewis took the 2005 season off to figure out if he wanted to continue with professional baseball before returning the next season and continuing with his career.
Lewis spent last season between AA New Hampshire and AAA Las Vegas. During his AAA stint with the 51’s, he was 2-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 24 innings.

As his former coach Brian Fischer told me, the minor leagues are a very lonely and demanding place, so it’s nice to see Lewis finally get the call after so many years of work.