After clinching a berth in the Class 3A state baseball tournament by trimming North Kitsap May 11, Enumclaw High engaged in the West Central District seeding tournament at Auburn Mountainview and were blanked by Highline’s Pirates 15-0.

Not only did they have to endure the embarrassment of being shut out, but Enumclaw also lost its starting center fielder Kyle Thomson, who slid into second base headfirst and broke one of the fingers on his right hand.

In Saturday afternoon’s encounter that would decide which of the eight seeds Enumclaw would secure, the Hornets squared off with Union High.

EHS earned the No. 3 seed behind Highline and Capital by edging Union 3-2 as outfielder Tyler Carlson crushed a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth inning.

“I think the most impressive thing about that tournament on Saturday was how the guys responded to getting clobbered by Highline by turning around one hour later and handing a tough Union club and narrow defeat. I thought the players on this team showed a lot of character by doing that,” coach Eric Fiedler said.

Enumclaw will head north to play at 1 p.m. Saturday in Mount Vernon; the Hornets will challenge West Seattle High.

“I wouldn’t care if the game was being played on the Alaskan frontier at 3 o’clock in the morning, we would find a way to get there and play for the honor of moving one step closer to Safeco Field and the state quarterfinals,” said Fiedler, whose crew pushed its overall mark to 17-6 Saturday.

Should Enumclaw defeat West Seattle, it would then play the winner of the contest between Meadowdale High and Union at 4 p.m., also on Mount Vernon’s Dream Field.