SEATTLE – Even the potentially unnerving hype and a line drive off their starting pitcher’s throwing arm couldn’t stop the Jackson High baseball team.
Clearly, nothing (and no one) could.
Ranked No. 2 in the nation by Baseball America magazine, Jackson capped a remarkable unblemished season Saturday night with a 7-1 victory over the Auburn Trojans in the Class 4A state baseball championship game at Safeco Field. Winning pitcher Geoff Brown (10-0) allowed one run in five-plus innings and smacked a two-run home run to lift Jackson (27-0) to the season-capping triumph.
“It’s been the most amazing thing that I’ve ever been a part of,” Jackson senior Travis Snider said.
It’s the first state championship ever in a team sport for Jackson, which opened in 1994.
Brown, a junior who transferred to Jackson from Kamiak before the current school year began, was uncharacteristically wild (six walks) but escaped a few jams and supplied what turned out to be the winning runs with the first homer of his prep career. He had just 21 at-bats entering the game, but in his first trip to the plate Saturday his two-run shot put Jackson on top 3-0.
Cam Christian of Auburn (24-4) hit Brown (three hits allowed; two strikeouts) with a line drive in the bottom of the third inning. The ball smacked off the triceps on Brown’s throwing arm, but he threw out Christian and remained in the game.
“It stung. It hurt pretty bad,” Brown said. “But I wanted to stay out there. In a state championship game, you’ve got to put it all out there.”
Brown, a left-hander who was relieved by pitcher Kawika Emsley-Pai (two scoreless innings) in the sixth, certainly went all-out.
Snider said Brown has the biggest heart on the team: “He did more than we could ever dream of.”
Jackson scored a run on Chris Lynch’s RBI-single in the first, and in the second Brown lined a two-run home run over the right-field fence to make it 3-0. The ball flew about 15 feet inside the fair pole and scored Danny Oh, who was hit by a pitch.
A Jackson error helped Auburn cut it to 3-1 in the third. The Trojans looked primed do more damage, but Brown recovered and Auburn left the bases loaded.
Jackson erupted for four more runs on four hits in the fifth. The key play was Joey Lind’s two-run, line-drive single to center with two outs that made it 5-1.
Jackson went on to fulfill its lofty goals and showed no signs of caving into intense hype. “We didn’t let that (hype) break us apart,” said Lind, who had two hits.
It was likely the first and last state championship for first-year Jackson head coach Alan Briggs, who plans to pursue an administrative career. Briggs stepped in for former Jackson head man Kirk Nicholson, now a volunteer assistant, just a week before the season began. The change could have been detrimental, but things worked out fine.
“Everything out of his mouth is positive,” Emsley-Pai said of Briggs. “He made us a better team, by far.”
Briggs praised his assistant coaches – Nicholson, Steve Nobles, Tom Allanson, and Frank Bower – and gave them credit for the team’s success.
So where does this Jackson squad fit in state history? Said Snider, “I think we could compete with any team that’s ever played (prep) baseball in this (state).”
No arguments here.
Notes: Jackson’s Snider is one of the best hitters in the country, and he’s also one of the toughest guys to get out. Starting with Jackson’s two regional games May 20 and continuing through his first thee at-bats Friday versus Tahoma, Snider reached base 11 consecutive times. He was 5-for-6 with a home run, a double, five RBI, four walks and scored five times. … There were three games at Safeco before the 4A championship on Saturday. Newport beat Peninsula 5-1 to win the 3A title. In consolation finals, Kentwood topped Tahoma 8-5 for the 4A third-place trophy, and Burlington-Edison earned an 8-3 victory over Mount Rainier to finish third in 3A. … Paid attendance for Friday’s four semifinal games was 6,793. That number jumped to 6,808 on Saturday.
Jackson 7, Auburn 1
At Safeco Field
Jackson1200400-791
Auburn0010000-131
Brown, Emsley-Pai (6) and Morhweis. Christian, Olson (7) and Buchanan. WP-Brown (10-0). LP-Christian (9-2). HR-Brown (J). Records-Jackson 27-0. Auburn 24-4.
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