With a berth at State up for grabs and the season on the line, Friday Harbor’s Shawn Cutting turned in what may have been his best performance of the year on the mound.

Unfortunately for the Wolverines, Cascade Christian southpaw Stephen Mahnken had the game of his life.

Mahnken, a junior, tossed seven inning of no-hit ball in leading Cascade Christian into the 1A State tournament with a 3-0 victory over Friday Harbor at the Tri-District playoffs May 15 at Sehome.

“Their guy threw the game of his career,” Head Coach Rich Warin said. “Shawn had probably his best game of the season for us. It just seemed like everything we hit went right at somebody.”

The loss brought the curtain down on the Wolverines’ season. They finished the year 16-5 overall, 14-1 league, and with a sixth consecutive league championship trophy on the shelf.

Cutting kept the Wolverines within striking distance up until the end, despite a couple of fielding errors which translated into a pair of Cascade Christian runs. He scattered three base hits over seven innings and struck out nine.

The Cougars tallied what proved to be the game-winner with a run in the third inning, and added one in the fifth and another in the sixth inning as well.

The Cougars (9-7) clinched a berth at State with a victory in the do-or-die regional 1A showdown. They join Meridian — which claimed the regional crown with a one-run win over Chimacum in the May 22 District 1 championship game — Seattle Christian and Cedar Park Christian as the district’s five State contenders.

The Wolverines made big strides over the course of the season, Warin said.

“It was a great year, especially after the way we started and with losing seven or eight guys from last year,” he said. “The guys got it figured out about halfway through the season and played some great ball after that.”

Contact Journal of the San Juans Editor Scott Rasmussen at srasmussen@sanjuanjournal.com or 1-360-378-5696.

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