TACOMA -- To say that Ben Jacobs has seen a lot of baseball is like saying Barry Bonds hit a lot of home runs and -- hmm, mmm -- took a lot of supplements.
So when Richland's accomplished skipper says someone is "the best" at anything having to do with baseball, it holds water.
Brian McAfee, welcome to the pinnacle of high school baseball.
The Bothell senior simply overwhelmed the Bombers lineup Friday night, using a nasty little slurve to shelve Richland's bats for a 6-0 masterpiece in the 4A state semifinals at Cheney Stadium.
"I'm not lying -- in all the state tournaments, he's probably the best pitcher we've seen in the state tournaments," said Jacobs, who guided the Bombers back to the state semifinals for the fifth straight season and whose four titles are more than any other coach in 3A or 4A history. "And that's saying something. That's 40-plus games. We're capable of hitting well. But that's why he had 46 in a row (shutout innings). That was his eighth shutout this year."
The Bothell senior limited Richland to just two hits -- Jarrod Turner's second-inning single that was erased on a double play, and Zach Rapacz's infield hit in the seventh, again erased by a twin killing on the game's final play.
That sends Richland (20-7) into the third-place game at 1 p.m. today against Redmond (20-8).
Bothell (22-4) will face Jackson (24-2) for the title at 7 p.m.
McAfee struck out nine, walked none and was never really threatened. The only runner to make it past first base -- Dillan Klute -- reached on an error, stole second and moved up to third when the catcher's throw got away into center field.
Other than that, it was smooth sailing for the Cougars.
"I didn't see one fastball," said second baseman Corey Morris, who led the Bombers with a .483 average this season but went 0-for-3 and didn't get a ball out of the infield -- like everyone else in the lineup except Turner. "I don't think any of us did. It was all junk, and we're not a junk-ball hitting team."
Meanwhile, Bombers starting pitcher Mason Hilty wasn't showing any sophomore jitters getting a start in the big game.
He matched McAfee zero for zero, wriggling away from a bases-loaded jam in the third that was aggravated by a pair of errors.
"I'll tell you what, I'm proud of Hilty," Jacobs said. "He's one of the guys who competed. There's a reason he got out on the mound last year at Safeco (in the state final four).
Hilty had given up just one hit and two walks heading into the fifth. But that's when Bothel struck.
With one out, Jon Mercer hit a high fly back of first that Klute lost in the lights. Hilty walked the next batter on four pitches, and Samuel Lee drilled the first pitch he saw deep to left.
The only question was if it would stay fair, and it did for a three-run bulge that was more mountain than mole hill with McAfee on his game.
"He played great tonight," said Turner, Hilty's catcher. "If we cut down on the errors and make some defensive plays for him, we're in this ballgame, and he might be the winning pitcher."
Bothell scored three more in the sixth off Hilty when the game got away from him as well as the rest of the Bombers.
"It's a team thing," Turner said. "One guy gets down ..."
"We fall apart together," Morris finished.
NOTES: Jackson beat Redmond 5-3 despite committing five errors and getting just one hit, that a double by No. 9 hitter Conor Plaisance that unloaded the bases in the third inning. Indeed, Jackson's line on the scoreboard -- 5 runs, 1 hit, 5 errors -- compared to Redmond's 3-4-1 prompted the stadium PA announcer to proclaim, "Yes, the scoreboard totals are correct." ... If Richland fans felt a sense of deja vu watching Jackson win with just one hit, that's because the Bombers needed a single hit -- as well Syd Hall taking one for the team with the bases loaded -- to slip by Shorewood 1-0 in last year's 4A semifinals at Safeco Field.
Richland 000 000 0 -- 0 2 3
Bothell 000 033 x -- 6 7 2
Brian McAfee and Samuel Lee; Mason Hilty, Kenton Brunson (6) and Jarrod Turner. Highlights--Turner (R) 1x2; Zach Rapacz (R) 1x3; Lee (B) 1x2, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB; McAfee (B) 7IP-2H-0R-9K-0BB
* Kevin Anthony: 509-582-1403; kanthony@tricityherald.com
