By Joe Slye
On Tuesday night, the Kennedy Catholic Lancers boys’ baseball team got off to a tough start in their playoff quest. Facing a talented #1 seed Puyallup Viking team, the Lancers were shut out 5-0. With the loss, #8 seed Kennedy Catholic now moves into the loser’s bracket. One more loss, and their 2023 playoff run is over.
Puyallup moves on to play #5 seed Sumner on Saturday, May 13, at 1:30 at Art Wright Field in Kent. Puyallup showed their power, which proved too much for the Lancers. Viking pitcher senior Hunter Grasser pitched 7 innings, gave up 4 hits, had 8 strikeouts, no walks, and allowed no runs. The 4 hits were all singles, and Kennedy Catholic could not mount a serious rally. Puyallup scored 5 runs on 8 hits. Showing some power, the Vikings had 4 singles, 2 doubles, and 2 triples. Their timely hitting produced runs in 4 of the 6 innings they batted. The Lancer’s senior pitcher Micah Hagler threw 4 innings and gave up 4 runs. He struck out 3 batters and walked 1. Freshman Harvey Lieberman added 2 more strikeouts in 2 innings pitched.
Next up, the Lancers face the #9 seed Union Titans from Camas, WA, on Wednesday, May 10, at 4:00 at the Kennedy Catholic baseball field. The winner of this game advances and plays on Saturday, May 13, at 1:00 at Heritage Field in Puyallup. The loser is finished for the year. Union advanced to round two with a 6-5 win over #16 seed Emerald Ridge on Tuesday evening. Union is a solid team with a 14-4 record this season. However, they will be traveling from Camas to Burien on Wednesday after a game on Tuesday evening. It should be a close game, even with the road trip the Titans will make.
