Who: Eastlake (11-9, 7-7)

How they got here:  Fourth Place, Crest Division; The Wolves had an up-and-down KingCo season, never winning or losing more than two games in a row.

Number crunch: .368 — The batting average of senior Mason Pierzchalski, who leads the team in that category as well as

Player to watch: Jackson Dahl, JR. — The junior utility player for the Wolves knocked in three of his team’s five runs in the 5-2 victory over Inglemoor, and is tied with Vorhof as the second leading run producer with 10 RBI on the year.

Opponent perspective: Skyline senior pitcher Drew Lunde on the Wolves: “My goal is to shut Eastlake down. I’m going to look at their stats, come out with a game plan and see if I can pitch the whole game.”

Yearlong build has Eastlake two wins from state tournament

For nearly an entire calendar year, Eastlake has been building for its next opportunity in the 4A KingCo baseball tournament.

The Wolves won their first round game last year to move one win from their first state baseball tournament berth since 2003. But consecutive losses to Bothell and Issaquah ended their campaign, and left senior Mick Vorhof and a host of others pining for one final shot.

“This is kind of what we’ve been preparing for over the past year,” Agnew said. “We’ve just got to relax and stay focused.”

The first thing Eastlake and Agnew will have to focus on is taking down Sammamish neighbor Skyline, which beat them 6-3 in the only regular season game between the two.

Spartans’ ace Drew Lunde, a Washington State signee, tossed five innings of two hit, two run baseball in that victory.

But rebounding from a setback is anything but new for this group of Wolves, and especially Vorhof.

After losing three consecutive one-run decisions, games in which his own offense provided only one run over 21 innings, Vorhof didn’t bat an eye.

“I just tried to flush it, and move on to the next one,” he said. “Once we got a glimpse, everyone just kind of caught on and it started a train.”

Agnew said he expected nothing less from one of his team’s leaders.

“Obviously that was frustrating,” Agnew recalled. “He never took it out on his teammates, he just continued to battle and kept his nose to the grindstone.”

Vorhof took matters into his own hands in a 3-2 win over the Cougars April 28, tossing a complete game five-hitter while also collecting a double and scoring two runs.

Agnew said that performance was especially satisfying, given Vorhof’s hard-luck losses earlier in the year. More importantly, he hopes it set the stage for Saturday’s first round and beyond.

“I think it is going to be another great outing,” he said. “He is going to bring his lunchpail, go to work and do his thing.”