The scorching hot streak that earned the Edmonds-Woodway High School baseball team a shot in the semifinals of the Class 3A state tournament went just a little bit too cold Friday.

The Warriors gave up a handful of early runs to a highly regarded Mount Vernon squad and came screaming back to pull within a single run, but couldn’t get past that stubborn margin and fell to the Bulldogs 9-7 in a white-knuckle contest at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.

Edmonds-Woodway plays at 12:45 p.m. Saturday against the loser of Friday’s second semifinal between Eastside Catholic and West Seattle. The winner earns third place in the tournament, the loser gets fourth.

Friday’s game started off on an odd note; the game was scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. but didn’t start until 5:20 p.m., as the previous game at the field — a 4A semifinal between Richland and North Creek — went 12 innings before the Bombers prevailed 1-0.

Trailing 8-1 in the top of the fifth inning, Edmonds-Woodway (20-6-1) rallied in a big way with four runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth. In the fifth, the Warriors used singles by Andreas Simonsen, Cruz Escandon and Thomas Shults to push across their first run.

A line drive by Kohl Gruender to right field was misplayed and when Gruender overran first base, he attempt to return to first but was caught in a rundown. After a couple of throws by Mount Vernon, a throw to home plate was late as Diego Escandon slid in safely.

A single by Luke Boland scored Toshi Gilginas to cut the lead to 8-5 before Mount Vernon pitcher Xaiver Neyens got two strikeouts and a fly ball to end the rally.

The Warriors weren’t finished, however. In the top of the sixth, Simonsen doubled down the right-field line and Diego Escandon followed with a two-run homer to cut the lead to 8-7.

That was all the runs Edmonds-Woodway was able to muster, however, as Mount Vernon junior pitcher Brody Olmsted came on and blanked the Warriors for the rest of the game, including a filthy curveball to strike out Lukas Wanke and end the sixth inning.

Mount Vernon’s offense was at its most effective in the first two innings, as the Bulldogs scored three runs in the first and added four in the second. Edmonds-Woodway starting pitcher Grafton Marshall-Inman struggled a bit with his control, and the Bulldogs took advantage in the first inning with three singles by their first four hitters, followed by a 2-run double by freshman Reece Roberts.

In the second inning, Mount Vernon extended its lead to 7-0, scoring four runs on a walk, a hit batter, three singles, and an error by the Warriors infield that allowed two runs to score.

Clinging to an 8-7 lead, the Bulldogs added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Neyens was hit by a pitch, stole second base and later scored on a single by Dylan Jacobs.

Mount Vernon (24-3) plays for the state championship at 7:15 p.m. Saturday against the winner of the Eastside Catholic-West Seattle semifinal.

— By Craig Parrish

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Class 3A state baseball semifinal — Friday at Gesa Stadium, Pasco

Mount Vernon 9, Edmonds-Woodway 7

Edmonds-Woodway   001   042   0 — 7   10  4

Mount Vernon      340   101   x — 9    10   1