Reeser lifts Timberline to walk-off win against Stadium, Blazers win 3A district title

Two seventh-inning rallies and two walk-off wins lifted Timberline High School baseball to a Class 3A West Central/Southwest district championship Saturday in Auburn.

Late in the afternoon, the 3A South Sound Conference winners trailed league rival Gig Harbor by two runs heading into the bottom of the seventh inning in the semifinals, but loaded the bases, and catcher Kaleb McNeely hit a bases-clearing walk-off to send the Blazers to the title game.

A few hours later, Gage Reeser ended another thriller with a game-ending hit against Stadium. After the Tigers took a one-run lead in the top half of the frame, Timberline tied the game on an opposite-field double by Marcus Olson. Reeser stepped to the plate four batters later with two outs and the bases loaded again, and crushed a line drive to the wall in center to lift Timberline to a 7-6 walk-off victory.

“Just super hyped up in the moment,” Reeser said. “It was a good team win.”

Reeser’s teammates rushed from the dugout to celebrate, and the Blazers took home their first district championship trophy since 2013.

“This group of kids is just resilient,” Timberline coach Doug LaPalm said. “They just keep fighting. … Kids just continue to show up and they continue to grind, and that’s really what we’ve been doing all year long, and has put us into the position that we are.”

After a back-and-forth contest with the Tides earlier in the day, Timberline (20-3) led most of the way in Saturday evening’s title game at Auburn High School.

Timberline loaded the bases with one out in the first, and an Ethan Mathis grounder to third scored a pair of runs on a wide throw to the plate. Olson grounded into a fielder’s choice the next at-bat, scoring another to give the Blazers a 3-0 lead they carried until the top of the seventh.

Stadium got on the board in the second on a Jesse Winkler single to center, and later closed the gap to one run in the fifth on an infield single by Marcel Mercado that made it 3-2.

Timberline stretched the lead back to three runs later in the frame. McNeely led off the bottom of the fifth with a sharp grounder down the right field line, and scored on a Tyler McLellan fielder’s choice two batters later. Jacob Nadeau made it 5-2 on a base hit to center not long after.

Then the Tigers (18-5) rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh to take their late lead.

Mercado singled up the middle with one out and the bases loaded to drive in a pair of runs. Pinch hitter Dayton Lopez tied the game moments later, dropping an opposite field single into shallow right. A Tristan Luxenberg grounder to third scored the go-ahead run with two outs two batters later.

But, Timberline answered with the two runs in the seventh. Mathis hit a one-out single to right, and scored from first on Olson’s double. Nadeau then bunted for a base hit, and Roy Ovist was intentionally walked to load the bases.

The Tigers got the second out of the inning on a fielder’s choice, throwing home to keep the score tied, but Reeser ended the game the next at-bat.

Every Timberline batter reached base at least once in the contest, seven tallied at least one hit and five drove in runs in the win.

“It’s been somebody new every single opportunity,” LaPalm said. “These kids are special and we’ve got a family atmosphere going on here, and we’re all here and have each other’s backs.

“Good win for us, and I’m happy for this program and happy for these kids.”

What does it take to rally for two walk-off wins in one day?

“Just knowing that we can get it done,” Reeser said. “Everyone on our team, one through nine, we just all have faith in each other and know we can get it done.”

Following the two victories Saturday, the Blazers will carry a 12-game winning streak into the 3A state playoffs, which begin next week.

“We feel really good,” Reeser said. “We have a lot of momentum going into it.”

Stadium, Silas, Gig Harbor, Bainbridge, Kelso and Auburn Riverside also advance from the 3A West Central/Southwest district bracket to the state field, which will be seeded by WIAA committee.