Union’s baseball mission just getting started

It had all the ingredients of a runaway game.

One dugout had the league champions. Well-rested league champions. Well-rested league champions on a mission to show, once and for all, they are the best Class 4A baseball team from Southwest Washington.

The other dugout had a team on fumes. A team that had won three elimination games this week just to get to the championship game of the tournament. A team that, win or lose on Friday, already had clinched a berth to the state playoffs.

The ingredients were there for a runaway for Union, and that’s exactly what occurred at Propstra Stadium.

Thomas Lampkin Jr. had three hits and drove in four runs, and the Union Titans took advantage of seven Skyview errors Friday evening, rolling to a 15-1 victory to claim the Class 4A District 4 baseball crown.

Union, as the No. 1 seed from Southwest Washington, will play at Heidelberg Park in Tacoma on May 23 in a Class 4A state regional. Skyview will try to regroup after going 3-1 this week and head to Everett for its state regional.

Union scored five runs in the first inning, four each in the second and third, and then two more in the fourth. The game was called after five innings via the 10-run rule.

“It feels great especially after some of the games that we didn’t play well this year,” Lampkin said. “We wanted to let everyone know we knew what we could do. We wanted to put everything on the field, and we left everything on the field.”

Lampkin drove in a run in each of the four Union innings.

Brenden Marker led the bottom of the lineup. Hitting seventh on this day, he went 2 for 2 with a double and drove in two runs.

“We got four practice days this week. High-intensity all four days. Just got work done,” Marker said. “It showed in this game today.”

The Titans waited all week for an opponent as five other teams from the 4A Greater St. Helens League battled to get to the championship game. Skyview prevailed, winning three close games, including a seventh-inning three-run rally Thursday night to save its season.

“We said no matter who we’re were going to play, we’re going to play as hard as we can,” Lampkin said. “We’re going to have a great next week, with the same intensity.”

This is Union’s second consecutive district title, but the first that the Titans were able to celebrate on the field. Last year’s tournament was rained out, and Union was declared champion for winning the league title.

Union coach Ben McGrew said this was a lot more fun, as he, his assistants, and the players surrounded the trophy and took pictures.

Three Union pitchers — Jacob Allbee, Connor Stevenson, and David Buehler — combined for a one-hitter.

Skyview’s Avery Schmidt got the hit, and Brody Barnum drove in the Skyview’s lone run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.

This week might have belonged to Skyview, but Friday belonged to Union.

Lampkin, Devin Tracey, Marker, and Tanner Myers each drove in a run in the first inning. Lampkin, Cody Hawken, R.J. Quirante, and Marker drove in the runs in the second inning. Then it was Jack Bauer, Lampkin and Tracey coming through in the third. Lampkin got a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Now, it’s the state round of 16.

“This team can win a state championship,” Lampkin said.

“Exactly,” Tracey said.

“We’ve got the guys,” Lampkin said.

“We’ve got the talent,” Tracey said.

The Titans showcased that potential in the district championship game.