This road looks familiar — one that leads directly to the state 2A tournament.

Sequim blasted White River in the opener and edged Sammamish in the quarterfinals of the West Central District tournament on May 7, securing a top-four berth in the state 2A tournament.

Last season, the Wolves knocked off those teams in the district’s first two games — in the same order, no less — and wound up with a No. 3 seed to state.

This time around, Sequim didn’t have to sweat out a win in game one. Evan Hurn doubled twice and had two RBIs, Justin Porter tripled and scored three times, and Gavin Velarde had three hits in an 11-2 rout of Whiter River.

“The bats came alive, we played great defense and just put up a pretty good show,” Sequim coach Dave Ditlefsen said.

Daniel Harker added two hits and two RBIs as Sequim erupted for five runs in the third inning.

Southpaw James Grubb picked up the win for Sequim, striking out seven and giving up just two hits and one earned run; Velarde tossed two scoreless innings in relief.

In game two, the Wolves edged Sammamish 3-2 in eight innings.

In the top of the eighth, Sequim’s James Thayer scored from third base on a pickoff throw to snag the one-run lead and reliever Austin Hilliard struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to preserve a win and automatic state berth.

“We felt our league was very tough to get through,” Ditlefsen said. “We felt battle-tested when we got there.”

The Wolves (13-8) take on River Ridge (11-11) in a district semifinal at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 12, at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds.

Liberty (11-11) takes on Fife (19-2) in the other district semifinal at 1 p.m.

“River Ridge is a really good program with a young team,” Ditlefsen said.

Winners of those two games play for first and second place at 4 p.m. while the losing squads battle for third and fourth place at 7 p.m.

Sequim was the lone Olympic League team to qualify for the semifinals, with North Kitsap, Port Angeles and Olympic still alive with one heading into the district’s second weekend and Bremerton eliminated after going 0-2.

“There are some very good teams in that losers bracket; it’s nice to not be one of those teams,” Ditlefsen said.

The Sequim coach said he has a veteran crew that should help as they prepare to go deep into the postseason.

“We’re a pretty veteran crew; most of these kids were with us last year when we got this far,” he said.

Closing out with a win

Sequim’s Wolves used a nine-hit, five-walk attack to clobber host North Mason 13-0 on May 3, securing their No. 4 seed from the Olympic League to districts.

Harker tossed three shutout innings, giving up just three hits and striking out one, while teammates Austin Hilliard mopped up with two scoreless innings of one-hit, four-strikeout ball.

Harker had a double and two RBIs, Johnnie Young went two-for-two, Ian Dennis had a double and two RBIs, and Porter went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

Olympic League standings (final)

Team Lg. Over.

North Kitsap 10-2 14-4

Port Angeles 9-3 15-4

Olympic 8-4 13-5

Sequim 6-6 11-8

Bremerton 6-6 9-9

Kingston 2-10 3-12

North Mason 1-11 4-14