Seventh Heaven: Braves keep State streak alive

Thirteen is no unlucky number for the La Conner High baseball team.

Nor is it necessarily lucky.

Because at this stage of the game, having secured a seventh straight State playoff berth, the Braves know it’s far better to be good than lucky.

La Conner showed just how good it is last week.

The Braves posted a dramatic 5-4 Senior Day season finale win over Darrington, then put together two clutch loser-out District Tournament triumphs on Saturday to run their current winning streak to 13 games.

It all adds up to a 1 p.m., May 23 matinee showdown with Adna in Anacortes.

La Conner coach Jeremiah LeSourd began fine-tuning a game plan for Adna on Sunday but allowed himself the luxury of briefly savoring his club’s District twinbill sweep in Stanwood the day before.

“It was a really fun day for our team,” he reflected. “We weren’t perfect, but we made plays when we had to.”

Perhaps none bigger than those produced during a decisive five-run fourth inning rally that led to a 7-2 District title win over Friday Harbor and a spot opposite Adna in the Anacortes bracket.

Trailing 2-1, La Conner broke the game open when Matt Semrau legged out a run-scoring infield single and James Hulbert worked a bases-loaded walk, lifting the Braves on top 3-2.

Taylor Swanson and Preston Stewart followed with singles to push the margin to 6-2.

Erick Reinstra provided the final margin of victory with an RBI single in the sixth.

In the meantime, La Conner rode the strong arm of ace hurler Max Miller, who recorded his 10th mound win without a loss.

“Max settled in as the game progressed,” noted LeSourd. “He gave up just four hits and only two of those came during the final six innings.”

Miller has now fanned 91 batters in 59 frames going into the State Regional round.

He helped his cause against Friday Harbor by matching Stewart with a pair of safeties. Hulbert reached base three times, twice via walks and once on a single.

La Conner had advanced opposite Friday Harbor courtesy an 8-1 District opener win over Concrete earlier Saturday.

Taylor Swanson and Reinstra shared pitching duties, limiting the Lions to a lone base hit.

“They pitched their best in pressure situations,” LeSourd said afterward.

The La Conner offense took some of that pressure off with four-run outbursts in each of the first two innings.

Swanson, Stewart, Cameron Hansen, and Logan James each got aboard and plated in the initial stanza. The Braves dealt Concrete another four-spot in the second as Miller and Semrau laced singles with runners in scoring position.

Stewart finished with two singles in four trips, while Miller ended up with three RBIs.

La Conner’s District tourney heroics were made possible by the team’s stirring walk-off win in its final regular season contest, a matchup with NW2B rival Darrington prior to which seniors Swanson and Reinstra were saluted for their contributions to the Braves’ program.

There was little to celebrate early on, however.

“We started slowly,” LeSourd lamented. “Our offense wasn’t able to come through with runners in scoring position.”

Darrington pushed across two markers in the fourth inning to break a scoreless deadlock.

The Loggers doubled the lead with another two runs in the sixth.

Trailing 4-0, and down to its last six outs, La Conner went to work.

Miller got the Braves on the board with an RBI single in the sixth. Matt Harper sliced the Darrington lead in half, at 4-2, when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

In the seventh, James came through with a run-producing single and Hulbert brought home the tying score when he, too, was hit by a pitch with sacks filled.

Miller completed the walk-off in fast forward mode. He scored the winning run by dashing home from third on a wild pitch.

Stewart, offering a glimpse of hot hitting to come at Stanwood, led the victors with a pair of base knocks.

“We’re excited for this opportunity,” LeSourd said of the upcoming clash with Adna. “It means we’re District champions and headed to State for the seventh year in a row.”