Prep roundup: Hunter Jenkins hits a walk-off grand slam to help Tahoma open its new field with a victory

Baseball

Top performer: Hunter Jenkins, Tahoma

Hit a walk-off grand slam in a 6-4 win over Cascade.

Tahoma 6, Cascade 4: After battling the pitches, the Bears’ Hunter Jenkins got a hold of the baseball and sent it over the fence. And just like that, Tahoma christened its new field with a dramatic finish Saturday: a walk-off grand slam.

“It feels pretty awesome to win,” said Tahoma coach Russ Haden. “To have an experienced player like Jenkins makes a big difference. He wasn’t comfortable at the plate today, but he got all of that ball.”

Jenkins is a returning starter for the Bears, as a sophomore, and that’s rare for Haden.

“He’s one of three freshman that I ever started in my 25 years of coaching,” Haden said. “My juniors and seniors deserve to start, but Jenkins is too good of a hitter.”

The slam would be Jenkins’ only hit of the game. Henry Murphy knocked in a couple of runs for Tahoma.

Battle Ground 4, Puyallup 2: The Vikings scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but their rally fell short.

The first run came off a Henry Search walk that brought in Jonas Kim from third, and then Gavin Grant singled to bring in Eric Peterson.

Puyallup’s Michael Newstrom struck out 11 batters, but gave up three runs in his four innings of work.

Mount Rainier Lutheran 17, Chief Leschi 7: The runs kept coming for the Hawks, who scored eight in the fourth inning alone.

Mount Rainier Lutheran’s Justin Stewart had a double and a triple and drove in five runs. He pitched for three innings and struck out eight.

His brother, Erik Stewart, scored three runs, stole two bases and had a base hit.

This story was originally published March 11, 2017 at 10:12 PM with the headline "Prep roundup: Hunter Jenkins hits a walk-off grand slam to help Tahoma open its new field with a victory."