The Lake Washington baseball team battled its way to the KingCo title game last week, but came up just short of the championship, losing to Mount Si 3-2 on Friday.

But it was the loss to Liberty on Saturday in a loser-out game to compete at state that stunned the team. Both games took place at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue.

Against Mount Si, the Kangs fell behind, giving up an early run during the bottom of the second. But Lake Washington came right back during the next half inning, scoring a run to tie the game. Mount Si countered with a run during the bottom of the third for the 2-1 lead. The Kangs temporality tied the game during the fifth, but Mount Si scored the winning run during the bottom of the sixth.

Despite the loss, Kang starting pitcher Nick Johnson threw another good game. Johsnon went the distance, only allowing three runs on eight hits.

Victor Mayorquin and Alec Wong both collected an RBI during the game.

Against Liberty, the Kangs needed a win to advance to state but a four-run first inning for the Patriots put Lake Washington down early. Despite the deficit, the Kangs chipped away at the lead with a run during the bottom of the first, two in the second and two in the third. The game was tied at 5-5 heading into the fourth inning.

A two-run sixth gave the Patriots the 7-5 lead and Lake Washington could only manage one more run before the game and their season came to a close. Steve Semler had two RBI during the game, teammates Zach Johnson and Jordan LaFave also had an RBI each.

The Kangs finished the season with a 16-7 record and second in the KingCo regular-season standings.