White River’s Williams and Cawley-Lamb shine in Senior All-State Baseball Series

White River High School was well represented at the recent Senior All-State Baseball Series, staged at the Parker Field Complex in Yakima, Wash. Payden Cawley-Lamb and Connor Williams survived a weeding out process to make the roster of one of the four 18-player teams involved in the annual affair

By John Leggett • June 16, 2010 8:47 pm

White River High School was well represented at the recent Senior All-State Baseball Series, staged at the Parker Field Complex in Yakima, Wash.

Payden Cawley-Lamb and Connor Williams survived a weeding out process to make the roster of one of the four 18-player teams involved in the annual affair, made possible by the nonprofit All-State Baseball Committee. Players making the Yakima trip were winnowed down from an original field of 500 seniors from throughout the state, through an exhaustive schedule of feeder games at every classification (Class 2B through 4A).

White River was one of only three teams in the state at any classification to boast dual representation at the All-State Series.

The senior tournament, which enjoyed its 30th year of success in early June, is designed to showcase the elite graduating high school senior diamond talent in the state.

The four contingents involved assume the names of four of the Evergreen State’s premier mountain peaks – Baker, Rainier, Adams and St. Helens.

Both Williams and Cawley-Lamb were randomly chosen to play as part of the Mount Baker crew, which was the eventual champion in the tournament. Each was a 2010 all-first team South Puget Sound League 3A selection. Williams will take his game to Central Washington University; Cawley-Lamb has not decided where he will play next season.

Each tournament team played two games, with the first-day winners advancing to the championship tilt the second day. Williams and Cawley-Lamb were instrumental in a six-run rally in the top of the eighth frame that helped Mount Baker beat a tough Mount Adams bunch 12-9.

With the score knotted at six after the regulation seven innings, the clash went to a bonus panel and the Mount Baker unit found its groove, putting together a six-run uprising.

The Mount Adams squad attempted to retaliate in the bottom half of the extra frame, but could only manage a three run output.

The next day, bolstered by the pitching of Kentwood High hurler Austin Voth, who was the SPSL 4A MVP in 2010, the explosive Mount Baker group bludgeoned St. Helens 17-5 to earn the series title.

In that championship rendezvous, Cawley-Lamb went 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.

Williams also had a good day at the plate with two hits and two runs scored.

Each of the 72 players involved in the All-State Series was awarded a plaque during a dinner hosted in their honor, which was highlighted by the appearance of guest speakers and college coaches Chris Sperry from the University of Portland, Donnie Marbut of Washington State University and Mark Machtolf of Gonzaga University.