Naselle finishes fourth after narrow loss to top seed in state tournament
Published 3:54 pm Tuesday, June 3, 2025
YAKIMA — Under the hot Selah sun, the Comet bats went cold.
The Naselle baseball team had their 2025 baseball season reach a conclusion on Saturday, where the Comets finished 4th at the WIAA 1B State Tournament after suffering back-to-back close losses to #1-seed Liberty Christian 4-2 and #3-seed Almira-Coulee-Hartline 3-1.
Comets can’t remake quarterfinal magic
Naselle (14-6) racked up 15 hits and scored their highest run total of the season in a 25-4 win over #4-seed Northport in the quarterfinals on May 24, but the Comets couldn’t get their offense going against the #1-seed Liberty Christian Patriots (23-3) on Friday, May 30.
Naselle only managed three hits — by Leith Chadwick (16), Trajen Ford (6) and Logan Quashnick (10) — against Liberty Christian pitchers Ethan Butcher and Levi Marlow, who combined for nine strikeouts and four walks to contain a typically potent Comet offense.
Naselle junior starting pitcher Leith Chadwick (16) pitched a complete game, allowing eight hits and two earned runs with three strikeouts and three walks.
Liberty Christian would advance to defeat #2-seed DeSales 9-8 for the 1B state championship.
Third/4th place game
In the 3rd/4th place game against Almira-Coulee-Hartline, on Saturday, May 31, Naselle again struggled on offense, spoiling a strong pitching effort from senior William Anderson (35).
The Comets again managed only three hits — by Leith Chadwick (16), William Anderson (35) and Kayden Wirkkala (15) — against ACH pitchers Max Grindy (12) and Jameson Conley (5), who combined for ten strikeouts.
Naselle starting pitcher William Anderson (35) pitched a complete game, allowing three hits and zero earned runs with one strikeout and three walks.
Naselle will lose five talented players to graduation, including Caiden Burke (7), Logan Quashnick (10, Jack Strange (24), Jacob Lindstrom (5) and William Anderson (35).
Over the past four seasons — since their freshman year in 2022 — these players were instrumental in Naselle’s success, including winning back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023, followed by consecutive 4th-place finishes in 2024 and 2025.
