Prep baseball: Wanke leads Edmonds-Woodway past Eastside Catholic for third place in state

Members of the 2024 Edmonds-Woodway High School baseball team celebrate with their third-place state trophy following their 4-1 over Eastside Catholic Saturday. (Photos by Joe Christian)

With opportunistic offense and a dominant performance by sophomore pitcher Lukas Wanke on Saturday, the Edmonds-Woodway High School baseball team earned third place in the Class 3A state tournament with a 4-1 win over Eastside Catholic.

Wanke pitched a complete game at a windy Resa Stadium in Pasco, allowing just four hits while striking out six. He kept the Crusaders hitters off-balance throughout the game, deftly mixing breaking material with a fastpitch that was still being clocked at over 80 miles per hour into the seventh inning.

Edmonds-Woodway pitcher Lukas Wanke went the distance for the Warriors.
Warriors Coach Dan Somoza.

Edmonds-Woodway finished with a 21-6-1 record for the season, which included a Wesco league championship. Eastside Catholic, the fourth-place finisher in the state, ended its season at 20-8.

The Warriors offense provided Wanke with more runs than he would need, as Edmonds-Woodway scored three runs in the second inning and added one more in the sixth.

In the second inning, Edmonds-Woodway scored each of its runs while there were two outs. Andreas Simonsen led off the inning with a walk, and two batters later Toshi Gilginis also drew a base on balls.

Warriors greet Diego Escandon (2) after he scored a run early in the game.

A flyball to right field by Diego Escandon was misplayed, and Simonsen and Gilginis each scored as Escandon wound up with a triple on the play. Cruz Escandon followed with a bunt that completely fooled the Eastside Catholic defense and scored Diego Escandon for a 3-0 lead.

The Crusaders scored their only run in the bottom of the fifth, when Jack Stearns walked, moved up on a single by Dylan Peay and scored on a single by Daxx Delucchi.

E-W catcher Thomas Schults (left) reaches to tag an Eastside Catholic runner at home plate.
Will Alseth focuses at the plate.
The Warriors’ Cruz Esacandon puts the tag on Eastside Catholic’s Ryan Long at second base.
Pablo Ferreria-Hernandez races to first base.
E-W’s Luke Boland lays down a bunt.

The Warriors answered with their final run in the top of the sixth when Diego Escandon singled, stole second and scored on a double by Cruz Escandon.

Cruz Escandon’s hit was a hard shot down the right-field line that bounced off the first-base bag and continued into the outfield, allowing Diego Escandon to score.

EWHS players hold up the trophy at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.
The official team shot with the third-place 3A state trophy.

— By Craig Parrish

———

Class 3A baseball state tournament third-fourth place game

Edmonds-Woodway 4, Eastside Catholic 1

Edmonds-Woodway    030  001  0 — 4   6    1

Eastside Catholic     000   010  0 — 1   4   2

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