The Columbia River Chieftains got a lead in the third inning.
Oh, and Seth Rayburn was on the mound for River.
Game over.
“When we scored, I knew we were good,” Rayburn said.
Columbia River beat Mountlake Terrace 3-0 Saturday morning in the first round of the Class 3A state baseball tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals later Saturday.
“Best feeling in the world,” Rayburn said of helping get his team to the Bellevue regional final.
Columbia River will face the winner of the O’Dea-North Thurston matchup, which will start at 1 p.m. Some 45 minutes after that game, Columbia River will be playing for a berth to the state’s final four.
Columbia River scored three runs on four hits and an error in the bottom of the third inning. Jace McKinney’s single scored Bryson Oury, who opened the frame with a single. Andrew Haley followed with a single to drive in Drew Moore, who had earlier reached base on a bunt single. McKinney would come around to score on a Mountlake Terrace error in the outfield on Haley’s single.
Rayburn struck out four and gave up three hits in his shutout.
He dealt with two serious challenges. Mountlake Terrace got two runners on via Columbia River errors with one out in the top of the fourth. Two groundouts ended the threat.
“Shut ’em down,” Rayburn said, adding that he simply ignores errors.
Mountlake Terrace got back-to-back singles with one out in the 7th. A ground out made it two outs, then shortstop Jay Becker chased down a long pop-up down the left-field line to end the game.
“Our goal from Day One is to keep working hard,” Rayburn said. “It’s a huge accomplishment to leave it all on the field and go as hard as we can.”
Rayburn, a senior who missed most of last season with an injury, improved to 19-2 in his high school career.
“When we have Seth going, we feel like we’re not going to lose,” Columbia River coach Stephen Donohue said.
COLUMBIA RIVER 3, MOUNTLAKE TERRACE 0
M. Terrace 000 000 0–0 3 1
C. River 003 000 x–3 6 2
Mountlake Terrace
Pitcher — Dominic DiMiero 6 IP, loss, 5 Ks. Highlights — DiMiero 1-3; Wyatt Alleman 1-3; Ben Reijonen 1-2.
Columbia River
Pitcher — Seth Rayburn 7 IP, win, 4 Ks. Highlights — Jordan Craig 1-3; Bryson Oury 1-2, R; Drew Moore 2-2, R; Jace McKinney 1-3, RBI, R; Andrew Haley 1-3, RBI.
