Spring sports breakdown: KingCo League surprises and standings

With spring break coming and going, the Renton Reporter is giving a rundown of what has gone down at the 2A and 3A KingCo levels of team sport.

2A KingCo Baseball

1. Sammamish, 10-3 (9-0)

2. Highline, 6-6 (5-2)

3. Evergreen, 7-7 (6-3)

4. Tyee, 6-4 (4-4)

5. Lindbergh, 4-4 (3-4)

6. Foster, 1-10 (1-7)

7. Renton, 1-9 (1-8)

Biggest surprise: The biggest surprise has to be Tyee, doesn’t it? A school that has been just beat down since coming out of the pandemic, making a name for themselves and playing respectable ball is what the game is about. With six games to go, the Titans have already tied their number of wins from last season (6). The last time a baseball team won more than six games was back in 2016.

• 1st Half MVP : Nate Llanes (Sammamish)

• 1st Half Cy Young: Dayne Castillo (Sammamish)

• 1st Half Coach of the Year: Noah Pawlowski (Tyee)

3A KingCo Baseball

1. Lake Washington, 12-3 (6-1)

2. Liberty, 7-6 (5-2)

3. Mercer Island, 6-8 (4-3)

4. Juanita, 6-7 (4-3)

5. Hazen, 8-5 (3-4)

6. Bellevue, 5-8 (2-5)

7. Interlake, 2-10 (0-7)

Biggest surprise: Hazen. I think the biggest surprise is Hazen at the five spot. With eight wins, they have the second most wins in the entire league. But a tough few league results have really hurt the Highlanders. They have one of the better arms in the league in Sam Nicholson (2.05 ERA, 39K) and a very solid but at times top heavy lineup. With six games remaining, five in league, the Highlanders can make up some ground come playoff time. Because the Metro League will not have a district baseball tournament, the KingCo League gets just two guaranteed state spots.

• 1st Half MVP: Rohne Klein (Liberty)

• 1st Half Cy Young: Kane Nishikawa (LW)

• 1st Half Coach of the Year: Derek Bingham (LW)

2A KingCo Softball

1. Sammamish, 7-3 (5-1)

2. Highline, 6-3 (5-1)

3. Lindbergh, 4-5 (4-2)

4. Evergreen, 6-4 (3-3)

5. Tyee, 5-4 (3-3)

6. Renton, 1-5 (1-5)

Biggest surprise: Highline has to take the cake as the biggest surprise this season. A team that has won eight games the past two seasons finds themselves in second place, half a game behind first seeded Sammamish with eight games remaining — that has to feel good. The Pirate offense is averaging under 13 runs a game (12.9) through 10 games this season. A year ago, through 10 games, the Pirates averaged 10.8. Through those 10 games last year, the Pirates were 5-5, but this year? 6-3.

• 1st Half MVP: Tazi Greer (Sammamish)

• 1st Half Cy Young: Sydney Ravenscraft (Sammamish)

• 1st Half Coach of the Year: Sarah Calderon (Highline)

3A KingCo Softball

1. Lake Washington, 9-3 (5-0)

2. Juanita, 9-4 (4-1)

3. Liberty, 6-6 (4-1)

4. Hazen, 5-4 (3-3)

5. Bellevue, 5-10 (2-4)

6. Mercer Island, 1-10 (1-5)

7. Interlake, 4-8 (0-5)

Biggest surprise: Lake Washington. Last year the back and forth between Juanita and Liberty created quite the race heading into the KingCo Tournament. But this year it is shaping up to be a three-horse race heading down the final stretch. Lake Washington is that third team entering the conversation and right now they are leading the pack. Still yet to play Liberty, the Kangs are looking dangerous with wins over Bishop Blanchet, Gig Harbor and Juanita to stack the resume.

• 1st Half MVP: Alexis DeBoer (Bellevue)

• 1st Half Cy Young: Christina Minor (LW)

• 1st Half Coach of the Year: Chris Cook (Juanita)

2A Soccer

1. Foster 11-1, (9-0-0) 27 Pts

2. Evergreen (Sea), 9-3 (7-2-0) 21 Pts

3. Lindbergh, 6-5 (5-3) 15 Pts

4. Sammamish, 3-5-3 (3-4-2) 11 Pts

5. Highline, 3-5-1, 10 Pts

6. Renton, 1-7-1 (1-6-1) 4 Pts

7. Tyee, 0-9-0 (0-8-0) 0 Pts

Biggest surprise: Evergreen. The past two season, the Wolverines have won a combined total of eight games. With four games left, Evergreen has surpassed that number with nine wins so far. The Wolverines have turned into scoring maniacs this season. Evergreen has the second-highest goals per game average behind Foster in the entire KingCo League across 2A, 3A and 4A. The last time Evergreen even made a district tournament was back in 2016. But this year, the Wolverines are in a prime position to break that dry spell and maybe even make a run.

• 1st Half Ballon d’Or: Axel Alarcon Morales (Foster)

• 1st Half Yashin Trophy: Saul Barbosa-Rangel (Foster)

• 1st Half Manager of the Year: Oscar Alvarez Quezada (Evergreen)

3A Soccer

1. Liberty, 5-3-0 (5-2-0) 15 Pts.

2. Mercer Island, 6-2-1 (4-2-1) 13 Pts

3. Hazen, 7-2-2 (4-2-1) 13 Pts

4. Bellevue, 4-4-2 (4-2-1) 13 Pts

5. Lake Washington, 5-2-2 (3-1-2) 11 Pts

6. Interlake, 1-8-0 (1-6-0) 3 Pts

7. Juanita, 0-9-1 (0-6-1) 1 Pts

Biggest surprise: Hazen. The Highlanders had a down season last year with just three wins in the league. This year they have surpassed that number. They have beaten the number one team in the league and right now are on a three-game winning streak, having lost just one of their last eight games. It looks like it is going to be a dogfight between Hazen, Mercer Island and even Bellevue with 1-5 separated by just four points. With five games remaining, the Highlanders could finish as high as one or could be the fifth seed. The top five seeds will play in the KingCo tournament for a chance at state.

• 1st Half Ballon d’Or: Dylan Chung (Bellevue)

• 1st Half Yashin Trophy: Zachary Marini (LW)

• 1st Half Manager of the Year: Mitch Furuglyas (Bellevue)