KingCo and Seamount conference coaches announced their all-conference selections for sports during the 2015 spring season. Listed below are the selections from Hazen (Seamount League) and Liberty (KingCo 2A/3A Conference).

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Baseball

Hazen
League co-champions — Hazen and Kennedy Catholic
Coach of the Year — Mike Brundage, Hazen
First team — C Logan Ricord, sophomore; 1B Ryan Gayte, senior; DH Eli Azcueta, senior
Second team — 3B Alex Combs, sophomore; OF Nolan Hoover, senior
Honorable mention — OF Mitchell Hard, senior; OF DJ Anderson, senior; P Ben Hoeper, junior; P Ryan Gayte, senior

Liberty
Coach of the Year — John Martin
Second team — P Nate Steffens, senior; 3B Michael Heath, senior; OF Torey Anderson, sophomore
Honorable mention — Boston Munro, junior; Tyler Haselman, junior; James Workman, junior; Riley Wingerson, sophomore

Boys soccer

Hazen
First team — CD Hector Cervantes, junior; F Reyes Garcia, junior; M Ethan Kem, sophomore
Second team — M Cooper Cerna, junior; F Zach Quesnel, junior
Honorable mention — M Robbie Schroeder, freshman; D Christian Chavez, sophomore

Liberty
First team — D Tyler Wray, junior; M Tyler Jensen, senior; D Ryan Graham, senior
Second team — F Michael DuVall, senior
Honorable mention — JT Anderson, Griffin Lockhart, Noah Anderson, Leoul Hancock

Track and field — boys

Hazen
First team — Jesus Vargas (400 and 800 meters), Rhyan Demile (long jump), Parker Trewett (shot put)
Second team — Taseen Hussain (300 meter hurdles), Rhyan Demile (triple jump)
Honorable mention — Aaron Rothlisberger, Jesus Vargas, Ramsay Bauer and Saivon Johnson (4X400 relay team)

Track and field — girls

Hazen
First team — Sarah Hart (800 and 1600 meters), Alexis Rogers (400 meters), Taliah Coe (javelin), Alexis Rogers, Amy Warmenhoven, Sablena Milinganyo and Sarah Hart (4X400 relay team)
Second team — Plamedie Masiala (300 meter hurdles), Kate Lilly (800 meters), Alicia Nguyen (high jump and long jump), Michelle Lilly (high jump and triple jump), Shannon Dickenson (pole vault)
Honorable mention — Alexis Rogers (100 and 200 meters), Vy Pham (100 meter hurdles), Megan Tucker (discus), Plamadie Masiala (long jump), Brenna Hairston, Sablena Milinganyo, Sarah Sherrod and Taliah Coe (4X100 relay team), Amy Warmenhoven, Brenna Hairston, Sarah Sherrod and Taylor Lenton (4X200 relay team)

Girls tennis

Hazen
Athlete of the Year — Misa Takami, sophomore
First team — Misa Takami, sophomore; Elise Wong, senior
Second team — Kristy Huynh, senior
Honorable mention — Catherine Lin, senior

Liberty
Honorable mention — Sienna Rice

Fastpitch

Hazen
First team — 3B Isabel Teppner, senior; UTL Hannah Loucks, senior
Second team — P Monica Cleary, junior; OF Tessa DeBartolo, sophomore
Honorable mention — C Alyssa Gummere, sophomore; SS Olivia Chapman, sophomore

Liberty
First team — OF Kendall Kauzlarich
Second team — P Sydney Hopper, C Maddy O’Connor, 1B Jayme Shaw, 3B Carina Morris and OF Hannah McMullin

By Karen Calcaterra
Liberty High School pitcher Nate Steffens and catcher Tyler Haselman conference with head coach John Martin in the Patriots’ 6-2 loss to Centralia in the Class 2A state baseball semifinals May 29 at Yakima’s County Stadium.

It stemmed from a cursory peek at their record — it was below .500 — and continued with a look at their regular-season standings, as they finished seventh out of eight teams in the 3A/2A KingCo Conference.

Those numbers, though, didn’t tell the whole story, Liberty pitcher Nate Steffens said. And opponents who doubted the Patriots as they surged to take fourth place at state would’ve known it if they took a closer look.

“You’ve got to look at who we’ve been playing all year,” Steffens said.

The other 2A teams’ strength of schedule likely couldn’t compare, Liberty outfielder Torey Anderson said.

Liberty went toe-to-toe with the likes of 3A state-qualifier Lake Washington, and eventual 3A state champion Mercer Island all season. In fact, the Patriots defeated the Islanders in one of their three matchups.

“We play in a really tough league,” Anderson said.

Steffens admitted the Patriots didn’t agree with the “underdog” label, but they did take satisfaction in silencing critics with their fourth-place finish.

“It was an amazing experience, especially after two years of the team not doing so well,” he said.

Liberty earned its way into the final four after a thrilling, come-from-behind, 4-3 win in a regional playoff game against North Kitsap on May 23 at Centralia’s Wheeler Field.

After falling behind 3-0 in the third inning, the Patriots got one run back in the sixth, and then picked up three more in the seventh to secure the walk-off win and punch their ticket to the state semifinals.

“That’s about as close as you can get to being eliminated, but we didn’t stop,” Anderson said.

Anderson went 2-for-4 in the game, while catcher Tyler Haselman went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs to propel the Patriots to the win.

That put Liberty into the semifinals for the first time since 2003, when the Patriots won the 3A state title thanks to the arm of Tim Lincecum, now a star with the San Francisco Giants.

Liberty would go on to lose to eventual state champion Centralia, 6-2, in the semifinals at Yakima County Stadium on May 29.

The next day, they fell to Squalicum, 7-1, in a game that took 10 innings to determine a winner. Liberty had to settle for a fourth-place trophy.

The ending was bittersweet, Anderson and Steffens said, but it didn’t take away from all that the Patriots accomplished.

“A lot of people doubted us, but we won the games we had to win, we peaked at the right time and we extended our season a lot further than most people thought we would,” Anderson said.

By Christina Corrales-Toy
Liberty High School first baseman James Workman claps as he trots to home plate, after scoring the Patriots’ first run in a 10-0 win over Foster May 9.

Despite a regular season record below .500, and a seventh-place finish in the eight-team KingCo 3A/2A Conference, the Liberty High School baseball team is headed to state.

After a two-win day in the District 2/3 2A baseball tournament May 9, the Patriots are guaranteed a state regionals berth. They’ll continue district play next week to determine which seed they’ll get.

Liberty didn’t have to travel at all for first-round district play, hosting games at the high school on Saturday.

After playing mostly 3A teams in KingCo, the Patriots, as the KingCo No. 1 seed, began its first foray into the 2A playoffs with a lot of success. That’s what it’s called when you score 10 runs in the opening game, and toss a no-hitter while you’re at it.

Liberty needed only five innings to discard Seamount League foe Foster, 10-0, in the first game.

In a game that started relatively tame, with just 1 run scored in the first two innings, Liberty erupted for five runs in the third inning, and added four more in the fifth.

The Patriots opened the scoring in the second, when Nick Gunn drove in James Workman on an RBI double.

All nine Patriots came to the plate in the five-run third inning, highlighted by Newcastle resident Torey Anderson’s triple and a pair of doubles courtesy of Tyler Haselman and Workman.

Workman, Haselman and Gunn each led the team with two hits, while Gunn was the Patriots’ RBI leader with two.

Meanwhile, on the mound, Liberty pitcher Nate Steffens couldn’t be touched. Steffens threw five innings of no-hit baseball, struck out 10 Foster Bulldogs and didn’t walk a batter. He was just an error shy of a perfect game.

With one win under their belts, the Patriots played again later that day, defeating Olympic, 5-0, to advance in the winner’s bracket.

Against Olympic, Steffens showed he could do damage with his bat, too. Steffens, this time playing center field, went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.

Anderson got the start for the Patriots this time and he went on to throw a seven-inning shutout. He, too, had a 2-for-3 day at the plate.

Gunn picked up two more RBIs in the Olympic game, while Eddie Delgado went a productive 2-for-3 with one RBI at the plate.

Liberty is back in action 1 p.m. May 16 against Fife at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. If they win, they’ll play in the district tournament championship at 4 p.m.

State regional play is May 23, and the final rounds of the state tournament, should the Patriots advance, are May 29-30 in Yakima.

Hazen bounced from districts

While Liberty went from a lackluster regular season, to some early postseason success, the opposite is true for the Highlanders.

After ending the season with a 13-1 conference record, and clinching a share of the Seamount League title, Hazen made a quick exit in the District 3/4 3A baseball tournament May 9.

Hazen lost to Kelso, 5-1, in the first round, before losing to Capital, 12-6, in the double-elimination tournament.