Puyallup Vikings sports well represented in 4A state tournaments this spring

The Puyallup Vikings will be well represented during the final weekend of high school sports for the 2022-23 school year.

Three of the perennial Class 4A powerhouse’s spring sports programs will continue their pursuit of a state championship this week across the state.

Puyallup baseball, which won the 4A South Puget Sound League title again this spring, returns to the state semifinals Friday afternoon up in Everett.

Vikings boys soccer, after upending the top-seeded team in 4A late last week, is also in the final four Friday at their home stadium in Puyallup.

After winning a 4A West Central/Southwest district championship over the weekend, Vikings softball is ready to head across the mountains to Yakima to begin their state run as the South Sound’s top 4A seed.

Puyallup also has athletes competing at the state level in golf, tennis and track and field the final week of spring sports.

“It’s so amazing,” junior Kyra Smith, who plays infield for the Vikings’ softball team, said of the school’s collective success. “It just feels like a great big athletic community, and that you have people to rely on, people are going through the same things you’re going through.

“It just creates a strong bond within the whole school.”

The Vikings will certainly be cheering each other on as they compete to add to the school’s impressive sports history and bring home more state trophies this weekend.

“I feel like we take pride in being at our school,” Puyallup baseball senior pitcher Hunter Grasser said.

Puyallup soccer was the first of the three Vikings teams making their way through the 4A bracket to open their state run this spring.

The No. 8 seed Vikings are in the tournament for a 10th consecutive season, and have now advanced to the semifinals for the first time since their 2019 championship run.

“I think everyone is playing to win,” senior midfielder Dean Williams said. “Everyone wants to win. Everyone is working as hard as they can to win. We’re playing as a team.”

The Vikings (13-3-4) finished second in 4A SPSL play this spring, then advanced to the district semifinals to clinch their return trip to the state bracket.

On May 17 at Sparks Stadium, they edged visiting No. 9 Wenatchee, 2-1, on penalty kicks, with Jacob Goter scoring the decisive goal of Puyallup’s five successful penalty attempts.

Goter also tallied the equalizer for the Vikings during regulation, connecting in the 39th minute after Wenatchee opened scoring in the 33rd.

Three nights later, back at Sparks Stadium, Puyallup stunned top-seeded Newport of Bellevue, 2-1 — again advancing on penalty kicks.

Trailing by a goal late in the second half after Newport scored the game’s first in the 65th minute, Williams sent the game to eventual overtime with an equalizer with just over 10 minutes to play in regulation.

“We started controlling the game, and the tempo of the game,” Williams said. “They scored, but it kind of brought us to life. We kind of worked harder after that.”

This time it was Lucas Foster who scored what turned out to be the deciding penalty attempt, lifting the Vikings to the semifinals.

Following the two thrilling wins, confidence is high heading into the final weekend of the season.

“I think we really know how to play together and work for each other, and I think we really care about each other, which is just the biggest thing,” senior defender Brady Anderson said.

Puyallup plays No. 13 Davis in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Sparks Stadium with a chance to advance to Saturday night’s final.

“We have this confidence and our team works hard, and we know that, so I think we can beat anybody,” Anderson said.

“We’re at 100,” Williams said. “We’re ready to play anyone.”

Not long before Vikings soccer secured a spot in the semifinals, Vikings baseball picked up a pair of state victories Saturday afternoon at Heritage Recreation Center in Puyallup to reach the 4A final four for the second consecutive spring.

The Vikings (24-3) repeated as 4A SPSL champions and advanced to the district title game earlier this spring, and at one point posted a 17-game winning streak to add to the program’s already impressive history.

“This is our 15th playoff berth in a row, 15th SPSL title in a row, and we’re looking to make it 16 next year, 17 the next year,” junior catcher Kai Halstead said. “Just keep going. Never stop working. I don’t think this streak will end anytime soon, so I think this legacy will keep going and it means everything to us.”

Halstead said this season’s group has come together as a team as the spring has progressed.

“Throughout this year we’ve been working together hard at practice, understanding what it means to be a team in and out of the game,” he said.

“The team this year has a lot of grit,” Grasser said.

The No. 2 seed Vikings opened their state run with a 6-5 win over No. 15 Hanford, limiting a late seventh-inning rally by the Falcons to move on to the quarterfinals later Saturday. They ended the day by shutting out No. 7 Jackson, 4-0, led by a three-hit shutout performance from senior Brett Ellingson.

Puyallup plays 4A SPSL and valley rival No. 11 Sumner for a fourth time this season in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday at Funko Field in Everett. The Vikings have won two of the three meetings so far.

No. 5 Tahoma, a program the Vikings beat in a nonleague game in early May, and top-seeded Eastlake, which edged the Vikings early on in March, will play in the other semifinal.

“I don’t have any doubt in us,” Halstead said. “We’ve faced all three teams that are in the final four, we know what we’re going up against, and I definitely know we have the team to do it.”

Puyallup softball will be the final Vikings team to begin their state run late Friday morning at Columbia Playfields in Richland, in the tournament for a sixth consecutive season.

“We want to hold that standard, accountability to our team,” senior pitcher and outfielder Lauryn Krick said of what has led the Vikings to another successful spring. “We definitely have this year.”

The Vikings (21-4) enter the state playoffs on a seven-game winning steak after posting wins over Kentridge, Olympia and school district rivals Rogers and Emerald Ridge at last week’s district tournament.

“That was really fun to play, and it really brought us together even more,” Smith said.

The wins over the Bears in Friday’s quarterfinals and Rams and Jaguars in Saturday’s semifinals and championship game were all come-from-behind victories.

Puyallup rallied past Olympia in the sixth, taking the decisive lead on an Amori Hargrove RBI single.

The Vikings posted a walk-off win against Rogers in the seventh on a single from Izzy Welch.

They wrapped up Saturday evening with an extra-innings victory over the Jaguars — who bested them twice in 4A SPSL play — scoring three runs in the top of the ninth on a single from Hargrove, base hit from Krick and sacrifice bunt from Raquel Thomas to eventually win, 8-5, and lift the district championship trophy.

“I feel like after this past weekend in districts, we’re even more prepared now,” Krick said. “ … We’re in a good spot.”

No. 4 seed Puyallup opens the state tournament at 11 a.m. Friday against No. 12 Eastmont.

“Practices are going well, all of us are communicating, all of us are helping each other out,” Krick said. “It’s just a great team environment.”

As each of the state tournaments continue throughout the weekend, the Vikings will be cheering each other on around the state.

“We’re always here to support each other,” Krick said.