Napavine, Tumwater head to Final Four with hardware in sight

May 27-After hundreds of games around the state this spring, there are just four teams remaining in each classification in the hunt for a baseball state championship.

Among those teams are Napavine and Tumwater, which both earned their way to the Final Four by taking two games in Regionals last Saturday.

The paths to this stage haven't been identical, but the Tigers and Thunderbirds certainly share one fact in common; They are playing their best baseball at the right time.

A familiar foe for Napavine

When Napavine takes the field on Friday morning at Carlon Park in Selah, it'll be a well-known opponent in the other dugout.

The third-seeded Tigers (23-2) will take on No. 10 Toutle Lake, a Central 2B League rival they've already faced three times.

"We're really familiar with them, and they're really familiar with us," Demarest said. "It's an advantage for them and for us. You're playing somebody familiar."

Napavine took two of the first three matchups, including a district semifinal on May 12, but it's the loss from late March that stuck out to both coach Brian Demarest and C2BL MVP Cal Bullock.

The Ducks shut out the Tigers in Napavine that day, handing the Tigers their first loss of the season at the time with a resounding 8-0 victory. Bullock referred to the loss as "a humbling experience.

"We learned that we're going to have to give it all we can," Bullock said. "We can't just come out lazy."

At the time, Demarest said that Napavine got a slice of "humble pie."

"They kicked us right in the teeth," Demarest said. "But that's exactly what we needed at that point in time. I think that was the turnaround point for us."

Since then, Napavine has won 17 of its last 18 games, including two state tournament games at home last Saturday. After walking off Jenkins (Chewelah) in the Round of 16, they beat Colfax by 10 in the quarterfinals to punch their ticket to Selah.

"We just knew we were one game away, that pretty much just fueled it," Bullock said. "We've been working for it all year ... I just feel like we're all coming together right now. I wish we had a longer season honestly. Just knowing we made it as far as we possibly could is a good feeling."

It's uncharted territory for Bullock and his teammates, but not for Demarest. He was the coach in 2017, the last time the Tigers made it to the semifinals, and they took fourth at state.

"It's a different animal," Demarest said. "Just to make it here is hard."

The Tigers have already ensured their fourth state baseball trophy in school history. In addition to finishing fourth in 2017, they took second in 2014 and third in 2009.

"The biggest thing is just not making it any bigger than what it is," Demarest said. "We're gonna go over there, and we're gonna play a baseball game."

Regardless of Friday's outcome, the Tigers are guaranteed to play a game on Saturday, whether it be the third-place game or the title game.

But if they are able to top Toutle Lake on Friday, Bullock and Napavine's three other seniors - Grady Wilson, Hudson Chambers, and Chase Manion - will be hoping to end their prep careers on top.

"It'd mean everything," Bullock said. "We've come just barely short a few times and just barely got over the edge ... I know the senior group and a few of the guys have always believed it, but now I feel like the whole group just believes it."

The winner between Toutle Lake and Napavine will face either No. 1 Tri-Cities Prep or No. 4 Northwest Christian (Colbert) for the title.

"Being able to take those (seniors), watch them perform, and showcase their talents at the biggest stage in 2B baseball is great," Demarest said. "Hopefully, we get a couple more wins and send them out the way I think they deserve."

Tumwater back on the big stage

It was only three years ago that Tumwater was last in the Final Four, when it walked off Lynden in the state championship game to win its second straight state title.

Nearly all of the members of that 2023 team have since graduated, but that hasn't stopped coach Lyle Overbay from seeing the similarities in this year's group.

"I feel like these guys understand the concept of a team," Overbay said. "I'm just excited for them. I know what these guys have done in the offseason to get them to this point right here. I'm proud of the way they handled that."

These Thunderbirds are heading to Bellingham as one of the hottest teams in the state, as they've rallied off 14 straight wins since their last loss on April 17.

During that stretch, Tumwater clinched a league title, a district title, and won two state tournament games over Port Angeles and Nathan Hale last Saturday.

In the win over Port Angeles, the T-Birds made two errors in the top of the first, but settled in and didn't make another error across the rest of the game.

"Regionals is just as big," Overbay said. "The nerves, the pressure, all that is there, but you don't let that impact your game ... I told them 'We don't have to do anything special. If we stick to our game plan and our strengths, we're gonna be successful.'"

Peyton Davis and Jimmy Womach were both on that 2023 state title team as freshmen, and after missing out on Final Four trips each of the past two seasons, they were both eager to return one final time.

"We're excited we get to have our teammates be there and get to experience what we experienced," Davis said. "We've talked with them about how fun it is, how bad we wanted to go, and how much we miss it ... It would be awesome to end my high school career with (a title)."

Standing in the T-Birds' way in the semifinal is an opponent that was also in Bellingham in 2023.

Selah finished fourth that season, and last week, the No. 11 Vikings (who also won the District 5 title) upset No. 6 Columbia River and No. 3 Othello to book their ticket into the semifinals. They are one of two double-digit seeds in the 2A Final Four, as No. 13 Orting also prevailed in its two Regional Games.

"It doesn't matter what the seeding is. It's about how you're playing right now," Overbay said. "(Selah) is going to execute the little stuff. They're very well coached, so they're going to be very well prepared ... You start looking at why teams are so successful, and that's what they do consistently. And in big games, they just keep doing the same thing."

On the mound, the Thunderbirds will continue to rely on Luke Overbay, Braeden Konrad, and Womach. Last weekend, Womach threw six scoreless innings against Port Angeles, and Luke Overbay threw a complete-game shutout against Nathan Hale. Konrad needed to come in for just one inning of relief, and he needed just 15 pitches to shut the door on Port Angeles.

"They locate their velocities," Lyle Overbay said. "Those are the types of things that are just as good and important that are gonna keep us successful too."

At the plate, Lyle Overbay is confident that his lineup can continue to string together strong at-bats as they have in recent weeks, as long as each individual ignores the urge to play hero ball.

"I get it, that's just human nature," the Tumwater coach said. "But I tell them 'No one remembers if you go 4 for 4, they remember if you won the state championship.' That's what it needs to be. Because you might not go 4 for 4. You might go 0 for 4, but you got a runner over or you got on base and stole second. Those types of things are the little things that make the difference."

The winner between Selah and Tumwater will face either No. 13 Orting or No. 1 Bainbridge for the title.

"I'm really excited," Davis said. "It's an honor to be able to go do it."

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