One year after finishing third at the state tournament, the Tenino baseball team has missed the state tournament.
The Beavers had their third and final chance to clinch a state spot on Saturday against King’s Way Christian — a team they had beaten earlier in the district tournament — on Saturday in Vancouver, but they lost 5-1.
The Beavers didn’t get on the board until the bottom of the sixth, when Michael Vassar drove in Austin Gonia with an RBI single. That only cut their deficit to four, though, as the Knights put up a pair in the third and three runs in the sixth to build a 5-0 lead.
“The things we’ve been worried about reared up and got us,” Tenino coach Ryan Schlesser said. “We didn’t play super clean defense, and we struck out too much. We didn’t make them play baseball. When you strike out that much, it just kinda deflates everything.”
Every season-ending loss is difficult, but this one was especially so for Schlesser and Tenino’s 11 seniors.
“It was really hard,” Schlesser said. “There were definitely a lot of tears … To know it’s over, it’s pretty sad. There were hugs all around.”
Schlesser said that he’s not old enough to feel like they’re his kids, but he did note that in the four years he’s spent with this senior group, he has welcomed two children of his own.
“I’ve grown up with them it feels like a little bit,” Schlesser said. “It's a pretty special bond that's been created.”
That group will leave Tenino with more than 70 wins to their belt over the past four seasons, two state tournament appearances, and a third-place finish at the state tournament.
“It’s a pretty special group,” Schlesser said.
The Beavers finish their season 17-8.
