High school district and state playoffs and tournaments heat up this week just as the weather does its own heating up.
For the first time in 12 years, the Port Angeles boys soccer team is playing a state game Wednesday.
The Roughriders play at Tumwater High School in do-or-die action.
Before that, though, the area boys and girls golf teams are playing in district tournaments today for the final shot at qualifying for state.
Then the Port Angeles and Sequim softball teams try to punch tickets to state in the 2A West Central District tournament Friday and Saturday in Tacoma.
Chimacum baseball
Saturday is when the Chimacum baseball team continues its quest for a second consecutive state title.
The 2A West Central District girls and boys tennis tournament continues Saturday at Sprinker Center with state berths on the line.
First up is the 2A district golf tournament set for today at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton.
This event is for players who didn’t qualify for state in last week’s sub-district meet but finished in the top 20.
The top eight boys and best seven girls from today’s competition will advance to the state meet.
Today’s girls will play on Gold Mountain’s Cascade course, teeing off at 11:27 a.m. while the boys compete on the Olympic course starting at 11:38 a.m.
Port Angeles already has three golfers qualified for state and will be trying to send two more from today’s competition.
Garrett Payton, the sub-district medalist, and Joe Barnes and Jordan Negus will represent the Roughriders at state.
Trying to finish in the top eight today for a trip to state are freshman Alex Atwell and Bryan Schlinkmann from Port Angeles.
Sequim ace Ryan O’Mera finished second to Payton at sub-districts last week for his state admission while teammates Frank Catelli and Casey Torres are taking their shot at state at the district tournament today.
On the girls side, Port Angeles and Sequim have one golfer each qualified for state while four others try for state berth’s at today’s district meet.
Sequim’s Maddy Fisher qualified for state last week while teammates Hailey Estes, Elisa Sallee and Kaylee Ditlefsen attempt to finish in the top seven to state today.
For Port Angeles, Sydney Rauch qualified for state last week while teammate Dana Fox plays at districts today.
Riders on a roll
The Port Angeles boys soccer team is having its best season in 12 years after shutting out higher district seed Sumner 1-0 in the loser-out 2A district playoffs Saturday.
Now the No. 4-seed Roughriders, who have won two postseason games, will travel to play at No. 1-seed Tumwater to play a loser-out first-round game Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Tumwater is awarded the home game because of its higher seed and because it has a turf field, which is required for state play.
The Riders will practice Monday and today at the Peninsula College Sigmar Field because it is a turf pitch.
Port Angeles likes to play on turf because of its speed up front.
The Thunderbirds are undefeated on the year and are loaded with year-round club select-soccer players, according to Port Angeles coach Chris Saari’s scouting reports.
See more about this match-up in Wednesday’s editions.
The winner of Wednesday’s game advances to the quarterfinals between the Sehome-Franklin Pierce winner Saturday.
The Thunderbirds, last at state in 2010, have never placed in the state soccer playoffs.
District softball
The Sequim Wolves continue their quest to defend their 2A state championship at the West Central District tournament at Sprinker Recreation Center in Tacoma starting Friday.
The Wolves get a first-round bye and then take on the White River-Washington winner in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Friday.
Winning that first game is important because the losers of the first two rounds slip into the consolation bracket where only one team of eight will advance to the state tournament.
On the other hand, the four quarterfinal winners all advance to state.
The Roughriders, meanwhile, play Fife in the first round at noon Friday with that winner playing Kingston in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Friday.
Port Angeles must win its first two games to secure a state berth, or like Sequim, if it loses in the first two rounds, it must win-out the rest of the way to earn that lone state berth from the consolation bracket.
Cowboys at state
For the sixth year in a row, Chimacum will be playing in the 1A baseball state playoffs.
The 2012 team, the only Chimacum team to go into state undefeated, will take its 18-0 record against Ridgefield, which the Cowboys have never played before, in the regional first round at Volunteer Field in Anacortes on Saturday at 10 a.m.
The winner advances to the regional championship game at 4 p.m. at Volunteer Field to battle for a berth in the state Final Four.
The Cowboys, the defending state champions, have advanced to the Final Four the past four years.
In that time, they have won state twice and also taken second and third place.
This is Ridgefield’s first time to state since 2007. The school won 2A state in 2002 and was second in 2A state in 2003.
On the 1A level, it captured second in 1983.