As either merely a malfunction - or a fateful sign - the Parker Faller Field lights in Yakima flickered badly enough Friday night to postpone the Puyallup-Lake Washington Class 4A baseball semifinal game.
One team left fhe field feeling pretty good, up 8-0.
It was the underdog Kangaroos.
Top-seeded Puyallup has until 10 a.m. Saturday to figure out a way to keep its WIAA title - and national-championship hopes - alive. The Vikings are ranked No. 2 nationally.
But ... they have work to do with three innings remaining.
That is because Lake Washington jumped all over Mason Pike, the reigning state player of the year who has signed as a pitcher to Oregon State University.
The hard-throwing right-hander gave up five runs in the first inning, never made it out of the third inning - and surrendered a career-worst eight runs in the final outing of his career.
After he loaded the bases in the first inning, Kane Nishikawa gave the Kangaroos a 1-0 lead on a run-scoring single.
Then, Gavin Johnson followed with a two-run double down the left-field line to give the No. 13 seeds a 3-0 lead.
After that, the hole for Pike kept getting deeper - until he was pulled with two outs in the third inning after Shane Johnson's two-run double off the right-field wall to push the lead to 8-0.
Shane Johnson, an Oregon Ducks signee, also had a pitching shutout going through four innings, giving up just two hits - all before the lights dimmed, causing a 45-minute delay - and ultimate postponement until Saturday morning.
Rodrigo Montano went the distance, giving up one final-inning run as the Wolves are back in the Class 4A championship game for the first time since 2023 with a win in the rematch of the District 1/2 title game.
With two outs, Quentin Johns laced an RBI double to center field to cut Eastlake's lead to 2-1.
On Montano's next pitch, Ashton Bergman hit a single to left field, but the game ended when the Wolves threw out Johns at home plate trying to score the tying run.d
Bode Webb highlighted a big first inning with a two-run triple, and Mount Vernon held off 3A Metro League champion Ballard, 4-3, in a Class 3A semifinal Friday in Yakima.
The Bulldogs are back in the WIAA championship game. They lost to West Seattle a year ago in Pasco.
After the Bulldogs built a 4-1 lead, Ballard scored twice in the fifth inning - one run coming on an error by Brody Olmsted and another coming on Dylan Wallblom's RBI single.
Top MLB Draft prospect Xavier Neyens came on in the final inning to record a save for Mount Vernon.
Bradley Parker's two-run single capped a furious Lions' rally in the seventh inning, and Kennewick broke it open an inning later, defeating Gig Harbor, 12-5, in a Class 3A semifinal.
The Tides grabbed a 5-2 lead on Ethan Mar's two-run double off the left-field wall, but Parker's hit capped Kennewick's three-run rally to tie the game.
The Lions scored seven runs in the eighth inning - with Parker driving in two more runs on a single.