King’s Way come away with Trico tiebreaker after coin toss, win over La Center

Gregg Swenson wasn’t exactly sure how a tie-breaking coin flip works in high school baseball, but he pictured it to be reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, but instead set in a diner in Longview with the coaches and athletic directors all huddled up in a booth.

So, when he heard the coin flip to decide the potential three-way tie atop the Trico League standings had taken place before King’s Ways’ regular season finale against La Center, the first-year coach opted not to know the outcome, as did La Center’s Rob Williamson.

In a way, it didn’t really matter.

As King’s Way pitcher Damon Casetta-Stubbs put it both teams carried a “win no matter what, and worry about (the rest) later” attitude.

“If we end up the one, two or three it doesn’t matter to me,” Swenson said. “It’s the team that plays the best it doesn’t matter what seed you are.”

On Friday, King’s Way removed all doubt when it thumped La Center 12-4 at Luke Jensen Sports Complex. After the final out, the Knights erupted in cheers when informed that they won the coin toss.

“Win no matter what, and worry about that later,” Casetta-Stubbs said.

It’s King’s Way’s fourth consecutive league title.

None of those four have come easy, according to Damon Casetta-Stubbs, who helped lead the Knights to a 1A state title last season. The King’s Way ace has been a part of all of them.

“It’s been close almost every year, it’s good to have to come back again this year,” Casetta-Stubbs said.

The Knights road to the league title was no cake walk this time, either.

King’s Way split a doubleheader with La Center on Tuesday and went 1-2 leading up to Friday’s rematch. Before the first pitch, La Center sat atop the league at 9-2, and King’s Way and Columbia-White Salmon were tied for second at 8-3.

White Salmon beat Castle Rock handily, which created a three-way tie after King’s Way’s win.

“Knowing we had some down moments this week, we were able to come out today, come out on top and be on fire from the start, it was awesome,” King’s Way pitcher and third baseman Brannan Meriwether said.

Neither La Center nor King’s Way threw its top pitchers in an effort to save them for districts. The Wildcats’ Beau Castleberry, a sophomore, made his first start and closer Riley Fender made his first varsity appearance for the thin, underclassmen-heavy roster.

Meriwether threw three strikeouts and gave up two hits and an earned run in the first three innings.

King’s Way held a 3-2 lead going into the fourth, when its offense exploded.

Meriwether said he started to see the Wildcats’ pitches begin to float up in the zone, and the Knights pounced.

They rallied behind five hits and, three walks and defensive errors to score seven runs and take a commanding 10-2 lead, capped by a grounder single from Hunter Aarhus that scored Casetta-Stubbs and Blake Sully.

La Center coach Rob Williamson pointed to inexperience as a contributing factor in Friday’s game, pitching all underclassmen and starting exclusively freshmen in the outfield.

King’s Way will play Tenino and La Center will play Elma in the opening game of districts on Monday at 4 p.m. at Castle Rock.

In his first year as head coach, Swensen pulled from the past when motivating his Knights on Friday, and it’s a message that applies going forward. He challenged them to assert home field advantage, and invoke the tradition involved in the previous three years the program has built.

“We need to honor those guys and make sure to keep it going,” Swenson said.

KING’S WAY 12, LA CENTER 4
La Center                 101 011 0 — 4 6 3
King’s Way             307 011 x — 12 14 1
La Center
Pitching — Beau Castleberry 2.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 K, 4 BB; Collin Newberry 3.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 3 BB; Riley Fender 0.2 1 H, 0 ER, 0 K; Highlights — Clint Smith 2-3, 1 RBI; Saige Keep 1-3, 2 R, 2B; Hayden Williamson 1-4, 2 RBI; Irving Alvarez 1-3, 1 R, 2B.
King’s Way
Pitching — Brannan Meriwether 3.0 IP, 2 H 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; Riley Danberg 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Highlights — Bryce Dodge 1-3, 2 RBI, 1 R; Damon Casetta-Stubbs 3-5, 3 R, 1 RBI, 2B, 3B; Sam Lauderdale 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 3B; Hunter Aarhus 3-4, 3 RBI, 1 R; Brannan Meriwether 1-5, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2B; Ty Mairs 2-3, 2 R, 1 RBI; Blake Scully 1-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2B.