Bringing the heat: Mount Si baseball claims KingCo crown, players breaking into record books

Mount Si on Tuesday downed Lake Washington with Reece Karalus' smooth, confident pitching and some powerful hits by what is becoming the Wildcat's definite line-up. On Wednesday, the team handled the visiting Interlake Saints, 4-2, to claim the Kingco title for 2012, led by senior Trevor Lane's lightning strikeouts on the mound. Lane struck out 17 Saints, and Mount Si again brought the hits. Reece Karalus was Mount Si's heavy hitter, with a double that brought home Lane in the fourth. He had a run of his own off a Connor Swift at-bat.

Mount Si on Tuesday downed Lake Washington with Reece Karalus’ smooth, confident pitching and some powerful hits by what is becoming the Wildcat’s definite line-up.

On Wednesday, the team handled the visiting Interlake Saints, 4-2, to claim the Kingco title for 2012, led by senior Trevor Lane’s lightning strikeouts on the mound.

Lane struck out 17 Saints, and Mount Si again brought the hits. Reece Karalus was Mount Si’s heavy hitter, with a double that brought home Lane in the fourth. He had a run of his own off a Connor Swift at-bat.

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In the fifth, Brian Woolley had a single that brought home Ryan Atkinson. Woolley stole second and came home himself on a Karalus single.

The win followed Mount Si’s masterful home game Tuesday, May 1, against Lake Washington, with big smacks by Trevor Taylor, lead hitter Joey Cotto, Lane and Connor Swift. Karalus pitched in that game, tallying 12 strikeouts.

“We’re starting to get hot,” said head coach Elliott Cribby. “When this team gets hot, it’s a scary juggernaut.”

 

Coming together

The coach described Cotto’s bat prowess as “lighting in a bottle.” The junior has led the lineup for six games.

Karalus, whose throws have been in the mid-90s, was happy to be throwing strikes, knowing the team’s hits are backing him up.

Mount Si’s pitching staff have been performing strong, “as advertised,” the coach said, and catcher Zach Usselman is growing in skill and strength, continuing to impress.

“Without him, I don’t think we’d be anywhere close to where we are now,” Cribby said.

Mount Si is now 12-2 in league, 17-3 overall this season.

 

Into the record book

Lane and Karalus are now deep into the Mount Si baseball record books, and have the potential to set new numbers this season.

In 2005, player Adam Dentz set the record for strikeouts at 83, but both Karalus and Lane look primed to bust that number.

Karalus has 71, and Lane, with 67, just surpassed his prior record for third-highest  in 2011, 63.

All three Mount Si pitchers—Trevor Taylor included—made the records last year.

Karalus already holds the team’s third-highest opponent batting average, from last season and just behind Frank Tassara’s two prior seasons, with 0.169.

That statistic measures a pitcher’s ability to prevent hits during official at-bats.

Karalus holds the record for saves with four in 2010, and the number-two record for season earned run average with 1.25.

Lane already holds the Mount Si record for wins as a pitcher with seven in 2011.

Taylor is among a trio tied for second place with six. Karalus now has six, Lane five, and Taylor four this season.

Karalus also looks to have broken his prior ERA average with 0.77; He was second to Dentz with 1.25 in 2010.

Tournaments begin next week. You can follow Mount Si baseball at http://mtsihsbaseball.com/.