Local teams looking to keep their seasons going as playoffs begin

As the weather begins to heat up, so do local spring sports teams vying for state playoff berths.

Prep baseball and soccer have either wrapped up their regular seasons or are moving on to state this week, with Mount Vernon boys’ soccer leading the way.


Mount Vernon boys’ soccer:

The Bulldogs are competing at state for the first time since 2001 after defeating Shorecrest in a 1-0 shootout last week.

The victory came after a 1-0 victory against Meadowdale earlier in the week, which gave the team two opportunities to go on to state.

That’s all the squad needed, defeating Shorecrest Thursday to take a state berth and claim the district title.

The Bulldogs (17-2) began their hunt for state yesterday at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood. Results were not available at time of printing.

The Class 3A state tournament will continue Saturday, with the semi-finals and finals taking place next weekend.


Burlington-Edison baseball:

The Tigers lost to defending Class 2A state champion Sehome Saturday during districts, ending their attempt to advance to state for the third consecutive year.

Burlington-Edison was coming off a 3-2 district loss to South Whidbey last week, which put the team in the loser-out, winner-to-state contest with its Northwest Conference rival.

The team lost 5-4 to Sehome at the Northwest 2A District Tournament.

During the regular season, Tigers’ coach John Thurmond said he’s been impressed by his well-rounded team.

“We’ve been solid defensively, have had good pitching and most of the time we’ve been able to score enough runs,” Thurmond said. “We’ve got a good mix of players and solid core of seniors and juniors.”

The Tigers finished the year at 15-7.

Burlington-Edison lost in the first round of state to Centralia last season and lost in the state semi-finals to Newport in 2006.


Burlington-Edison soccer:

This year’s season ended the same way as last year’s for the Tigers.

Burlington-Edison dropped a Northwest 2A District Tournament play-in game to Archbishop Murphy earlier this month, eliminating the team from play off contention and ending its season.

Tigers’ coach Jay Powers said he was impressed with how well his young team responded to this season.

“We had 12 guys in their first year of varsity experience and that was a big hurdle to overcome,” Powers said. “Their work ethic was fantastic — it was everything you wanted from a coaching standpoint.”

The Tigers finished the season 4-13 on the year.


Mount Vernon baseball:

Mount Vernon’s season came to a close last week after being shut out in two consecutive games at districts.

The Bulldogs finished 12-8 overall after losses to Meadowdale (3-0) and Shorecrest (6-0) last week during the Class 3A tournament.