MOUNT VERNON — The Burlington Sox found someone to throw strikes just in time Monday to earn a trip to the state tournament.

Burlington claimed its district’s third-and-final berth, topping Sedro-Woolley 12-7 in the Junior AA District American Legion Tournament at Skagit Valley Dream Field.

The Sox will join district champion Stanwood and runner-up Ferndale in Selah and Kennewick beginning Saturday.

“It’s amazing,” Sox third baseman Zach Livingston said. “We’ve worked hard for this all summer. We kept working hard, kept swinging the bats.

Sedro-Woolley, which earned the eighth and final berth to the district tournament in a three-team tie-breaker, had two chances to claim a state berth.

“We played everyone tough all summer,” Sedro-Woolley coach Brad Conn said. “We were trying to get better. I think we were an awfully good team. What we did didn’t surprise anybody in our uniform.”

With both teams’ pitching staffs running on fumes on the fourth day of the district tournament, the runs came in bunches early on. Each team went through two pitchers in the first four innings.

For the Sox, the settling factor was Matthew Gunderson. He came on in the fourth inning and escaped a two-on, one-out jam with only one run scoring, then faced one over the minimum in the final three innings.

“Matt did an outstanding job,” Sox coach John Thurmond said. “Our first couple guys struggled a bit. They battled hard, but had a hard time throwing strikes.”

In Sedro-Woolley’s case, Conn said he was hoping to get through four innings before using Nathan Regal, who threw a two-hit shutout in the opener on Friday.

The Sox erased a 2-0 Sedro-Woolley lead with two runs in the first, then batted around for six runs in the second to take the lead for good. Livingston blasted an RBI double, and was on base when Dylan Boe capped the rally with a three-run homer to left.

Sedro-Woolley bounced back, coming up with four runs in the third despite just one hit. The first four hitters walked, and Travis Serna made the Sox pay with a two-run double, his second two-run hit of the game. A sacrifice fly followed to bring Sedro-Woolley back within two at 8-6.

That was as close as Sedro-Woolley came, however. The Sox added single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings, and Gunderson came in and settled the Cubs’ bats.

Livingston finished with three hits, drove in two runs and scored twice. Boe finished 3-for-3 with a homer and four RBI. Quinn Holt scored three runs.

Sedro-Woolley finished with just four hits, two belonging to Serna. Bobby Twedt Jr. and Regal each scored twice.

Eric Francis can be reached at 360-416-2131 or by e-mail at