Selah Baseball Has Eyes Set On Fifth Straight District Title

Photo credit: 1460 ESPN Yakima

Key Players

Carter Young SS - One of the best high school baseball players in the country. He’s played on Team USA the past five years, and won a gold medal in 2017. Young is going into his fourth year as a starter for Selah, and has accumulated three First Team All League awards.

Dylan Bishop P/3B - He’s projected to be Selah’s opening day starter. Bishop is a location driven pitcher that uses his breaking ball to get third strikes. He’ll hit leadoff and will wreak havoc on the basepaths.

Payton Andreas P/CF - Total flamethrower that wracks up the strikeouts. Fastball touches upper 80s which is elite for high school. When he’s not pitching, he’s one of the top center fielders in the state.

Overview

The state of Washington features a bevy of quality baseball teams, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Selah is as good as any in the state.

Over the past four years they’ve accumulated a stunning record of 89-8 and also won a state championship.

Head coach Mike Archer has set the bar incredibly high for his players. He has a very strong core returning that will act as a base for a championship roster.

One starter he does not have returning is Reid Rasmussen. The southpaw had elbow surgery this off-season, and as a result will miss his entire senior season.

Anytime you lose a starting pitcher that had a sub 2.00 ERA over three years, that’s going to be a brutal loss.

The silver lining is Selah returns two high quality starters with good experience in Dylan Bishop and Payton Andreas.   

Both are proven commodities. Andreas started the CWAC Title game against Ellensburg last year and shut them out. He finished his season with a 2.62 ERA, while Bishop had a 2.44 ERA.

A pitcher to look out for coming out of the bullpen is Caden Herbst. The varsity newcomer will likely see low pressure situations when Selah has 5+ run leads.

Handling catching duties will be a young sophomore prospect in Dean Pettyjohn. He’ll be counted on to develop good chemistry with the pitching staff. Anything Selah can get out of his bat will be a bonus.

Making up the middle infield will be the returning combo of Carter Young at shortstop and Brandon Bruner at second base.

Bruner got injured midway through last year, so he’s determined to put together a quality senior campaign. Young is exactly what you’d expect out of a team USA infielder. At the plate he’s an on-base-percentage machine.

Manning first base will be Nick Garretson. He played sparingly last year, but now will be a full time starter and add pop at the bottom of the order.

When Bishop isn’t on the mound, he’ll be handling hot corner responsibilities. He’s expected to bat leadoff and steal his way into scoring situations.

Lining the outfield is projected to be Andreas in centerfield, with new coming starters Wyatt Berrimann and Chase Eregson in the corner spots.

Andreas is a First Team All League returner who hit .366 last year. While Berrimann and Eregson are unproven commodities, they do have a solid track record at the lower levels.

Projection

Last year the Vikings season ended way earlier than they expected, losing to Liberty 3-1 in the first round of state. Selah absolutely does not want to repeat that this season. In order to prepare themselves for playoff baseball, they’ve stacked their non conference lineup against contenders like Anacortes, Steilacoom and WF West. Combine that with conference rivals like Ellensburg and East Valley, and Selah is going to be tested. Anything short of a 20+ win season would be surprising; pencil them in very lightly at the top of the CWAC standings.

Key games

WF West 3/22

@ Ellensburg 3/30

@ East Valley 4/20