State champs! Richland beats Puyallup in 4A title game behind Woodard’s heroics

Joshua Woodard wasn’t sure he wanted to play baseball for Richland High School this spring, but his classmate Chris Daniels pleaded with him.

So the two friends, who both played on the football team in the fall, struck a deal: if Daniels played basketball, Woodard would play baseball.

To sweeten the deal, Woodard’s mom even threw in a new pair of cleats.

Safe to say, it worked out for everyone at Richland this year.

In the Class 4A state high school baseball championship game at GESA Stadium in Pasco on Saturday evening, in front of a packed hometown crowd of green and yellow-wearing fans, Woodard came through in two of the game’s biggest moments, leading Richland to a 4-3 nail-biting win over Puyallup.

In the bottom of the second inning, Woodard hit a bases-clearing double to give Richland a 3-0 lead.

Later, with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning and Richland needing one more out to win the game, Richland coach Grant Richardson called Woodard’s name to come in and close the game on the mound.

He induced a line drive from Puyallup’s Max Hemenway to Richland’s left fielder for the final out. Cue the dogpile.

“I’m super glad,” Woodard said of the aforementioned deal. “It kind of worked out.”

Richardson was less understated.

“I’m ecstatic,” Richland’s coach said. “I was pretty happy to see him. I just wanted him to have a good time. I knew he’d be good and could help us out but I never realized he was gonna play this big of a role and I’m sure glad he did.”

Call Woodard “Mr. Richland” after the way he wrapped up his senior year at Richland. He was the Bombers’ quarterback in the fall, leading the team to the 4A state tournament. He was the starting point guard for the basketball team, which finished second in state at the Tacoma Dome in the winter.

For the baseball team, he occupied less of the spotlight, serving as more of a role player and team’s nine-hole hitter. But he came through when it mattered most.

“It’s just super cool and super fun to be able to go out and compete with a great group of guys, whether it’s football, basketball or baseball,” he said. “It’s just been a super fun ride.”

Puyallup clawed back into the game after falling into the early hole after Woodard’s double. Hemenway and shortstop Gage Thompson hit RBI singles in the fourth, cutting the deficit to one.

Facing its final out in the seventh, Puyallup threatened again. Leadoff hitter Brayden Landry hit a single, Tristan Ringrose struck out but made it safely to first on a passed ball, Mason Pike was hit by a pitch, then catcher Kai Halstead was hit by a pitch, scoring a run and cutting the lead to one run.

After Woodard entered in relief, Hemenway worked a 2-2 count and made good contact with a pitch, but Richland left fielder Michael Revell only had to take a few steps to snatch the game-ending catch.

The hugs and tears in Puyallup’s postgame huddle said it all.

“The game of baseball is unfair and it can be cruel,” said Puyallup coach Marc Wiese. “Life can be a little cruel. Our guys, they gave everything. We hit so many balls hard. They made so many plays. Sometimes it just isn’t meant to be. You need to be lucky. They played clean baseball and we didn’t.”

Puyallup’s group of seniors came close. So close. The Vikings lost to league rival Olympia in the state championship game two years ago, before falling to Sumner in the semifinal round last season. First baseman Jackson Copeland — who nearly hit a home run in the sixth inning — took a positive view of the situation.

“Taking second place is always gonna be a good experience for us,” he said. “We’re always going to be able to have the chance to come out with our boys, come out and play. The fact that we get this memory to have — we didn’t take first but we’re still gonna have the memory that we’re gonna carry on forever and know that we were able to do this for all four years of high school.”

And he liked the fight he saw from his team after falling into an early hole.

“Today was absolutely one of the best days we’ve had,” he said. “All of our boys were hot. Before the game, some of our bench guys were making spreadsheets of what crap to talk. They were printing stuff out at the hotel, they were just trying to get us going.

“When we went down 3-0, that kind of fueled the fire a little bit more. We just kept fighting. That’s what we do, we just keep fighting until the end, that’s all you can do.”

For Richland, the win capped off a perfect season: 27-0.

“I’m super proud of the team,” Woodard said. “We were able to get this done.”