SEDRO-WOOLLEY – After picking up a pair of victories, the Lions are headed back to the state tournament.
Lynden defeated Squalicum 7-3 in the first round of the district tournament, and followed that up by beating Burlington-Edison 16-6 in the semifinals.
In round one against the Storm, the contest was relatively even through the first three innings, with Lynden holding a 1-0 advantage. However, in the fourth inning, following a walk by Childrey DeJong, junior Kasi Thomas blasted a homerun over the left field wall to give Lynden a 3-run lead.
Four batters later it was sophomore Rebecca Powell who lined a single into right field which scored Chloe Wittenberg and Sierra Alexander.
Lynden tacked on two more in the bottom of the sixth when Campbell DeJong’s double scored Powell and Lucy White.
Squalicum put up a terrific fight in the final inning with Bella Landingham and Olivia Paoli each singling to begin the final frame. Indigo Aune pinch ran for Landingham at second base, and quickly scored when Keisha McCloud reached on an error. Madison Syre’s groundball out scored Paoli, and advanced McCloud to second base. McCloud then scored on a single by Val Farquhar, but Lynden was able to get the final two outs needed to close out the first round game.
A five-run third inning and an eight-run fifth inning by the Lions throttled the green and gold past Burlington-Edison in the semifinal contest.
The bats came alive with Grace Potter, Childrey DeJong, Trinity Andrew and Lucy White obtaining three hits each. Andrew hit a single, a double and a homerun while also getting the complete game victory in the circle.
The Storm fought hard, but couldn’t get past Archbishop Murphy which defeated Squalicum 4-2 in the consolation bracket. Olivia Paoli went 3-for-3, with a homerun, and two runs batted in to lead the Storm offensively, and Regan Andersen struck out 11 batters. Both seniors closed out their incredible high school careers. Paoli finished with eight homerun on the season, and Andersen struck out 211 batters while posting an ERA under 2.
Lynden (16-6) will face Sedro-Woolley (19-3) on Friday at 6:30 at Janicki Fields for the district championship. Squalicum’s season ends at 8-13.
