Eastlake baseball stages comeback to advance to KingCo finals

Eastlake Wolves boys baseball staged a magnificent comeback and won 3-2 against Lake Washington on Saturday afternoon, securing a spot in the KingCo 4A Championship finals.

This marks the fifth consecutive year Eastlake participated in a KingCo championship, district, or state final.

“To get to another championship game means a lot not only to us, but to everyone else that has been instrumental in building Eastlake baseball into what it is today. It’s an honor to coach these young men,” said head coach Elliott Cribby.

The Wolves came into the game with a superior record of 16-6 to the Kangaroos’ 15-7. However, Eastlake suffered a 2-1 loss to Lake Washington in late March when the Kangaroos snatched the win in the 11th inning.

The first half of the game did not go the Wolves’ way as Lake Washington’s Sam Mehlberg, who sealed the walk-off win earlier in the season, scored in the third inning. A later error by Eastlake allowed for senior Brady Carlson to score again in the fourth inning.

The Wolves had a similar turnaround last week , winning from two runs down in the second-to-last inning against rivals Newport to clinch the KingCo Crown-South title. Coach Cribby attributes the resilience to the “focus and intent [the players] bring every game, every inning, and every pitch.”

In the bottom of the sixth inning, two runs allowed Eastlake to tie the game 2-2. A line drive by Gavin Robinett enabled Larson Kohlmann, who stole third base on the previous play, to earn the Wolves their first run.

Shortly after, right fielder Rodrigo Montano, the runner behind Kohlmann, stole home on a wild pitch, equalizing the game.

At the bottom of the seventh inning, with Skyler Levine on second base, center fielder Kellen Kinney popped a fly ball to the outfield, letting Levine score home to secure the win for the Wolves.