The Tradition Continues -- Kangs, Rebels Represent Kingco In Baseball Semis

It might seem unusual to some, but Ferris baseball Coach John Thacker has been around long enough to yawn at such things.

"It's not surprising to me," the 12th-year coach said. "It seems like there's always two teams coming out of that KingCo and going into the final four."

For the third time in the past seven seasons, the KingCo Conference has filled two of the four spots in the Class AAA baseball semifinals.

Top-ranked Juanita (20-2) of KingCo plays Greater St. Helen's League champion Columbia River of Vancouver (20-3) at 11 a.m. tomorrow, and unranked Lake Washington (18-7) of KingCo plays Greater Spokane League champ Ferris (18-5) in the 2 p.m. semifinal at Heidelberg Park in Tacoma.

Winners play for the title at 6 p.m. Saturday at Cheney Stadium. Losers play for third place Saturday at 3 p.m.

"It's a tribute to our conference," said Juanita Coach Gary Groenen, in his 20th season. "We've been very representative."

Since the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association quit annually grouping KingCo teams in the same regional tournament in the early 1980s, the league has dominated the semifinal brackets.

Over the past 10 years, teams from the league have won five titles, played in a sixth final and been in the final four eight seasons.

KingCo is the only league in the state to have provided an all-league state final (Juanita-Interlake, 1985) and only league in the state to have qualified three teams into one season's final four (Juanita, Interlake, Lake Washington, 1985).

In all, KingCo teams have played in 10 of 19 state finals (the tournament began in 1973), and half of the league's current 12 schools have made a Final Four appearance.

"From what I can gather, we have a very fine youth program in the Kirkland area," said Dave Chambers, completing his 10th year as Lake Washington coach.

"Baseball has been rather a tradition in Kirkland dating back to the days of the Little League World Series that was won by Kirkland (1982)."

Also contributing to the success, Chambers said, is strong youth coaching on the Eastside, along with plenty of quality playing fields, a higher-than-average number of quality summer youth teams and general affluence in the area.

"Parents send them to San Diego to play for a week over Christmas vacation," Chambers said. "Economically, there's just the ability to send kids to camp, get private coaching, whatever they need."

And there's also some luck.

"We've had a run of really good athletes in our program, especially pitchers," Chambers said. "We've had an outstanding pitcher in our program every year, at least since I've been coaching. I don't know if there's any accounting for that. . . .And Juanita has had a run of athletes as well."

Said Groenen: "There's just a lot of good talent around here, not to say there isn't anywhere else. And it's extremely competitive.

"We're proud of our conference."

Semifinalists

JUANITA

-- COACH: Gary Groenen, 20th season, 234-141. -- RECORD: 20-2, ranked No. 1 in final Class AAA state coaches poll; 15-1 in KingCo Conference, first in Crown Division. -- KEY PLAYERS: RHP/DH/1B Tom Evans, sr., 11-0, 0.88 ERA, 104 Ks, 37 BBs, 64 IP, also hit .444, 24 RBI, 5 HR; RHP/1B/OF Brian Doughty, sr., 9-1, 1.81 ERA; 54 Ks, 17 BBs, 62 IP, and hit .403, 25 RBI; OF Benji Dean, jr., .442, 20 RBI, 3 HR; 2B Arlo Abbott, sr., .397. -- PLAYOFF HISTORY: In their 13th state appearance, Rebels going to final four for the seventh time. They won AAA titles in 1985 and '87. Finished second in 1988. -- OF NOTE: Juanita has won 17 straight games. . .Team hit .319 with 13 home runs during season. . .Has outscored opponents 195-59. . .Evans has baseball scholarship to Washington. . .Doughty has baseball scholarship to Washington State.

LAKE WASHINGTON

-- COACH: Dave Chambers, 10th season. -- RECORD: 18-7; 10-6 in KingCo Conference, third in Crown Division. -- KEY PLAYERS: RHP Ryan Bickel, sr., 5-4, 3.50 ERA; RHP Mike Agostino, jr., 8-2, 1.50 ERA; C Brendan Hare, sr., .491, 23 runs, 12 SBs; RF Derek MacKenzie, sr., .391, 19 RBI; SS Ty Solomon, sr., .417. -- PLAYOFF HISTORY: Making third final-four appearance in six trips to state tournament. Best finish: third. -- OF NOTE: Five of seven losses against teams ranked among top seven in final Class AAA state poll, including two against Juanita. . .Bickel has baseball scholarship to Santa Clara.

COLUMBIA RIVER

-- COACH: Greg Hopkins, seventh season. -- RECORD: 20-3; 13-2 in Greater St. Helen's AAA League, first. -- KEY PLAYERS: RHP Scott Haij, so., 10-0, 1.05 ERA; CF Jason Jacques, sr., .408; SS Scott Flynn, jr., .385. -- PLAYOFF HISTORY: Ninth state tournament appearance, fifth final-four berth. CR won state titles in 1984 and '89. Finished second in '86. -- OF NOTE: CR last played Juanita in a 1989 regional final during its title year and beat Rebels with a three-run home run in bottom of the seventh.

FERRIS

-- COACH: John Thacker, 12th season. -- RECORD: 18-5, ranked ninth in final Class AAA state poll; 13-3 in Greater Spokane League, first. -- KEY PLAYERS: LHP Matt Sachse, so., 6-0, 1.84 ERA, also hit .424, 2 HRs; RHP Jarrod Miller, jr., 6-2, 2.20; RHP Jason Niemie, jr., 4-2, 4.10, .390, 6 2Bs, 1 HR; 3B Josh Rataezyk, sr., .554, 4 HR, 16 RBI; SS Ryan Swan, jr., .570, 22 RBI; OF Brandon Hardenbrook, jr., .370. -- PLAYOFF HISTORY: Third state appearance, second final-four berth. Finished third in '87. -- OF NOTE: Swan broke league record with 31 hits (16 games) this season. . .Rataezyk has scholarship to Yale for baseball and football. . .Sachse finished second in the league's MVP voting. . .Saxons start only three seniors.

. MAJOR LEAGUE. . . -- The KingCo Conference has won five of the past 10 Class AAA state baseball championships and played in the final a sixth time in that span. # With two teams (Juanita, Lake Washington) in the final four this season, the conference has a strong chance to extend the string of success. The decade of excellence (KingCo teams in bold):. . . Year Champion Runner-up Score. 1991 Redmond Federal Way 7-0. 1990 Fort Vancouver Oak Harbor 1-0. 1989 Columbia River Mead 6-1. 1988 Walla Walla Juanita 5-2. 1987 Juanita Kentwood 5-4. 1986 Interlake Columbia River 9-1. 1985 Juanita Interlake 6-4. 1984 Columbia River Kamiakin 9-7. 1983 South Kitsap Davis 2-1. 1982 Newport Shadle Park 6-1. .

# -Overall, KingCo teams have won seven state AAA titles and played in 10 of 19 state finals..