By Mason Kelley
Seattle Times staff reporter
WHITE CENTER — For the second straight game, Eastside Catholic shortstop Jeff Bohling stepped to the plate in extra innings with a chance to do something special.
And, for the second straight game, his teammates were waiting at the plate after the senior slugged a walkoff home run.
Bohling, who hit a solo shot in the 11th inning to beat O’Dea Wednesday, hammered a two-run shot in the ninth inning Saturday, carrying the Crusaders past Bishop Blanchet 6-4 in the Metro League championship game at Steve Cox Memorial Park.
“I haven’t had any home runs all year and that’s just crazy, two walkoffs in the last two games,” Bohling said.
The Crusaders (16-5) play at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue in the Class 3A regionals. Bishop Blanchet (14-8) will play at 10 a.m. Saturday at Dream Field in Mount Vernon.
“I don’t know what to say,” Eastside Catholic coach Kyle Larsen said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my life, a guy hitting walkoff home runs two games in a row. You just kind of got that feeling something good was going to happen.”
Bohling wasn’t the only Crusader providing drama. Travis Ulvestad sent the game to extra innings with a tying solo shot in the seventh, and Jeff Kepple’s RBI double tied it again in the eighth.
“We battle, man,” Larsen said. “We fight.”