Mount Si’s varsity baseball team traveled a rough road last week against Bellevue, which swept the Wildcats in a two game series.

The Wolverines’ four-run fifth inning broke open a close game on Friday, March 20, which ended in a 8-3 loss for the ‘Cats. Bellevue had already picked up a 4-2 win on Wednesday, March 18, against Mount Si.

While the Wildcats had looked good in practices coming into the games, Bellevue arrived with fire, a disappointed Wildcat coach Chaz Carr said.

“They wanted it more than we did, bottom line,” Carr said.

Mount Si’s bats struggled early against Bellevue in the Friday matchup. The Wildcats were able to get players on base with walks and hit batsmen, but could not get clutch hits to get things going.

Mount Si did not get their first hit until the fourth inning. By then, the Wolverines were already up 2-0 after scoring a run each in the second and third innings. Bellevue was up 4-0 before the Wildcats struck in the top of the fifth. Dustin Breshears opened with a walk; singles by Rossco Castagno and Tim Proudfoot brought Breshears home. Frank Tassara sacrificed on a groundout to score Castagno, closing the Wolverines’ lead to 4-2.

The Wolverines responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the frame — and that was it. The Wildcats scored once more in the sixth, but could not muster anything else. The two losses put Mount Si in an 0-2 hole to start the league schedule.

“We pretty much did this to ourselves,” Tassara said. “We had a lot of opportunities to capitalize and go ahead, but it just didn’t happen.”

Mount Si left eight men on base, including a bases-loaded situation in the first inning. Zack Robinson had a pair of hits to lead the way offensively. Starter Alex Hiebert struck out three and gave up four runs in his defeat on the mound.

The Wildcats got a solid performance from Tassara on the mound in the game last Wednesday. But the team also left runners on base every inning in that loss.

The game had been originally scheduled to be played at Mount Si, but poor field conditions prompted the switch to Bellevue.

Tim Proudfoot went 3-4 with a pair of doubles and a run batted in. Tassara gave up two earned runs in the loss.

Promising signs include Hiebert’s and Tassara’s efforts on the mound.

“Pitching, defense is good,” Carr said. “You can’t win if you don’t hit, and we can’t hit.

“We’ll keep them in the cages, keep them working and they’re good enough to do it,” he added. “They’ve just got to trust themselves, and they’ve just got to get it going.”

A big win against Kennedy that opened the season proves the ‘Cats are capable of getting it done with the bats.

“The kids know they can do it, and we tell them everyday they are capable of doing it. We’ve just got to do it on a more consistent basis,” Carr said.

Mount Si hosts Mercer Island on Wednesday, March 25, and Liberty on Friday, March 27. Both games start at 4 p.m.