OTHELLO – In a year that could’ve been chalked up to rebuilding, the Selah baseball is headed where Hall of Fame coach Mike Archer has taken them so many times before – the state semifinals.

The 11th-seeded Vikings used a five-run sixth inning to stun conference rival and No. 3 seed Othello, 8-7, to advance to the Class 2A final four. Selah will meet second-seeded Tumwater at 10 a.m. Friday at Bellingham’s Joe Martin Stadium.

With six freshmen on the roster, including starting shortstop Colton Barthel and pitcher Easton Jones, the starter against the Huskies, and just a couple seniors, some growing pains could be expected.

But those seem to be in the past, and this precocious crew will be the 15th Vikings team under Archer to advance to the state semifinals.

“They just work hard and are about business,” Archer said. “For these guys, it’s just fantastic.”

After losing twice to Othello in the regular season, it seemed that Huskies would make it 3-for-3 against Selah, scoring six runs in the bottom of the third inning to break a 1-1 tie.

The Vikings chipped away with a pair of runs in the fourth, before the big rally in the sixth.

Selah took advantage of a walk and two wild pitches to set up Drew Brewer’s RBI single. A walk and hit batter later, Dylan Kingston’s sacrifice fly scored another run.

Another free pass loaded the bases for Christian Keller, whose fly ball was just out of the reach of diving center field RJay Garza for a triple and an 8-7 Selah lead.

“They didn’t quit fighting and found a way to scratch their way to push a few runs across,” Archer said.

Barthel and junior Braxton combined for four hitless innings of relief to send the Vikings back to Bellingham, where they fell to Othello last spring in the game for third and fourth place.

Historically, this semifinal ranks near the top for Archer.

“It ranks right up there when we upset Moses Lake,” said Archer, recalling the 1998 and 1999 3A playoffs when Selah beat its then-Mid-Valley League rival, which featured top prospects and future minor leaguers Jason Cooper and BJ Garbe.

Selah (18-8) started the day by thumping sixth-seeded Columbia River, 8-0, in its first game since winning the district championship.

Kingston and Keller each had two hits and an RBI, and the Vikings took advantage of five Rapids errors. All of Selah’s runs were unearned.

Othello (22-5) outlasted Chief Sealth, 1-0, in 10 innings to start the day.

CWAC Player of the Year Xzyvvn Martinez pitched 8 2/3 of four-hit ball, striking out 16 against no walks.

Zayvier Olazcon delivered the walk-off win with a sacrifice fly to score Cain Gonzales.

NO. 7 NATHAN HALE 4, NO. 10 ELLENSBURG 3: At Seattle, the Raiders rallied from a 3-0 deficit, and held the Bulldogs to just one hit over their final three at-bats to oust the CWAC runners-up.

Jake Snow and Wyatt Green had RBI singles and Ellensburg Added another run on an error to take a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

Nathan Hale, however, scored three runs aided by two Bulldog errors in the bottom of the fourth to tie the score, and went ahead an inning later.

Sophomore Carter Peone had three hits for Ellensburg (15-10).