Pitching dominance leads T-Birds back to Final Four

Ignited by the arms of Jimmy Womach, Luke Overbay and Braeden Konrad, the Tumwater High School baseball team cruised to a pair of shutouts in the Class 2A state tournament at Wheeler Field, beating No. 15 Port Angeles 7-0 first then silencing No. 7 Nathan Hale 5-0 in the quarterfinals.

After a two-year absence from the state semifinals, the No. 2 seeded Thunderbirds (22-4) will take on No. 11 Selah at Joe Martin Stadium in Bellingham next week.

First pitch is slated for 10 a.m.

“When you get into this final 16, every team is comparable as far as talent-wise, pitching-wise,” Tumwater head coach Lyle Overbay said. “That part I didn’t quite grasp (the last two years of missing Bellingham). They didn’t wander off.”

Even though pitching was going to be the perceived strength of the 2026 T-Birds, they didn’t overwork their arms in March and dropped two of their first three games. Since then, they’re 21-2 and have won 14 in a row.

Womach diced up the Roughriders with eight strikeouts and allowed just two hits. Konrad pitched the seventh and needed only 15 pitches to secure the win. Versus the Raiders, Overbay went the distance with another eight strikeouts and just one hit allowed.

“Those big moments, we won all of them,” Coach Overbay said.

Six of the seven runs tallied in the Round of 16 came with two outs. Charlie Crawford recorded two hits and Kade Acker drove in a pair on a triple and swiped two bases.

Tumwater needed just a four-run bottom of the fourth to seize control against Nathan Hale. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Max Bunn and Wyatt Chase then Henry Arthur driving those two in on a single.

The T-Birds are now two wins away from their first state title since 2022.

"We've got to make sure we can neutralize (Selah) a little bit,” Coach Overbay said. “When you get to the Final Four, it is going to come down to a couple plays here and there.”