Prairie senior Elijah Nelson qualified for the 3A state tournament on Friday with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Nick Peterson of Thomas Jefferson at the 3A bi-district tournament at Sprinker Tennis Center in Spanaway.
Nelson, a three-time 3A GSHL singles champion, advanced to the semifinals with his one victory and secured no worse than fourth place.
The top seven placers in the tournament earn spots at state in May.
Also locking in a state berth is Mountain View’s doubles team of senior Trey Gillespie and sophomore Jeffrey Tso.
They had to come from a set down to beat Kenta Huanca and Owen Tonseth of Thomas Jefferson 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
State slowpitch softball
No. 8 seed Battle Ground survived the first day of the 4A tournament at Yakima as the Tigers beat Woodinville 14-4 in a loser-out game to advance to the third-place semifinals.
They opened the tournament with a 24-3 loss to No. 1 seed Chiawana, which went on to reach Saturday’s championship game.
Battle Ground will play No. 6 Moses Lake in the third-place semifinal.
Union, the No. 3 seed, went 0-2 and was eliminated. The Titans lost their opener 20-3 to Moses Lake, and then was eliminated by Bothell 11-10.
Bothell scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh, four runs scoring with two outs, to win the game.
In the 3A/2A tournament, Kelso will be playing for the title on Saturday against University, while R.A. Long is in a third-place semifinal.
