May 29—EVERETT — The Gonzaga Prep Bullpups might be trying to break new ground for their league, but they are playing as if they belonged all along.
Starter Dylan Croall tossed a complete game, Jackson Mott set the tone with a home run and the fifth-seeded Bullpups beat the No. 1 Richland Bombers 5-2 in a State 4A semifinal at Funko Field — home of the Seattle Mariners minor league affiliate Everett AquaSox.
Gonzaga Prep (23-4) reached the state championship game for the first time in program history and will face No. 2 Sumner (22-4) on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Greater Spokane League hasn’t produced a baseball state champion since the state sanctioned the tournament in 1973. The Bullpups are just the 15th GSL team to reach a baseball “final four.”
“‘When you play like that, you’re supposed to be here,” Gonzaga Prep coach Brian Munhall said. “And it was top to bottom.”
“Obviously we’re the underdog, and I think being the underdog kind of takes some pressure on your back,” Mott said. “Once you get on the field and you’re in the moment, everything kind of goes away and you just start playing.”
It’s the second time in the past two weeks that G-Prep has beaten the top-seeded Bombers (24-3), previously edging Richland 3-2 at Bomber Field in the District 6 title game on May 16.
“We respect the heck out of them and their traditions and what they’ve done, and we would love our program to be at the place that theirs is annually,” Munhall said. “For them to win the big games and to be in them all the time is great. But we’re excited that it’s our turn.”
“We’ve earned the right to be here. Absolutely,” Croall said. “We beat Richland twice, we beat everyone else. … There’s no reason for us to not be here. I mean, we’ve done everything possible to earn this.”
Both teams sent their respective league’s pitcher of the year to the hill — Croall of the GSL, and Richland’s Michael Revell of the Mid-Columbia Conference.
Croall got the better of the head-to-head matchup. The Bullpup senior — headed to Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Arizona, next year — allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts, including a called strike three to Richland leadoff hitter Dylan Parrott to end the game.
“I’m still not over it,” Croall said. “I mean, it still feels like I’m in the seventh inning, and I’m just… you know, I can’t even get my words together.”
“We’ve known for years (Croall) was going to be a guy,” Munhall said. “We knew he’s one of the better arms in Spokane, but it’s pretty nice that he saved his best outing of his career for the biggest moment, because that was electric.”
Revell, who committed to Division I Grand Canyon University, lasted just three innings. The Bullpups got to him for five runs on seven hits and three walks.
With one out in the first, Jacob Wilson sent a liner back through the box that nearly hit Revell on his follow-through but instead carried into center for a single. With two down, Jonah Keller ripped a double into the left field corner that plated Wilson for a 1-0 lead.
Richland answered back in the bottom half. Parrott doubled to the wall in right center, went to third on a wild pitch and scored when catcher Anthony Karis’ throw sailed into left field.
The Pups regained the lead in the second — all with two down. Sophomore Jacob Wood drew a walk, went to second on an infield single by No. 9 hitter Cole Comfort and scored on an RBI single by Karis, the 2026 GSL MVP.
Mott made it 3-1 leading off the third with a solo blast to the right of the giant scoreboard in right center field. Keller followed with a walk, stole second and scored on a single by Jaxon Buckner for a three-run lead.
“Two-strike hole and hit a home run. I guess that’s pretty cool,” Mott said. “I kind of blacked out on adrenaline, I’ll be honest. Just fired up.”
“That’s a big swing that helped separate things, and obviously we watched the dugout blow up a little bit too. It created a whole lot of momentum,” Munhall said.
G-Prep loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth on an error, single and walk and Richland coach Grant Richardson went to the bullpen for Braylon Edwards. With one down, Karis hustled home on a wild pitch, but a double play ended the rally.
Richland picked up a run in the sixth on an RBI single by Hayden Galloway, but the Bullpups cut the throw and nabbed Revell — who strayed too far off second on the play — to limit the damage.
“That’s the little stuff in baseball that you constantly talk about,” Munhall said. “We’ve yelled at our outfielders all year to make their throws cuttable, and in that moment, that’s a huge game changer.”
The rest was up to Croall. He got a K and bouncer to end the sixth, then tossed a 1-2-3 seventh to close it out.
“My mindset going into the game was ‘You’re better than everyone, and you’ve got to prove that,'” he said. “And I did it.”
In the other semifinal, Sumner handled No. 6 Kamiakin 6-1. Junior starting pitcher Wyatt Plyler allowed just one hit and three walks with 10 strikeouts over six shutout innings.
Kamiakin starter Zach Vega, who is headed to Gonzaga next year, gave up six runs — five earned — on seven hits and seven walks with three strikeouts.
The Braves face Richland in an all-MCC showdown in the state third-place game at 10 a.m.
2B
(1) Tri-Cities Prep 10, (4) Northwest Christian 1: Colter Schorer allowed one run in a complete-game six hitter and the Jaguars (26-2) topped the Crusaders (21-4) in a semifinal at Carlon Park in Selah.
Tilden Shumway went 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBIs and a stolen base for TCP.
NWC faces 10th-seeded Toutle Lake (20-7) in the state third place game on Saturday at 10 a.m.