It was a busy time last week for Mount Si High School baseball, as they played four games in five days, defeating Cedarcrest and Mercer Island, but falling to Skyline and Liberty.
The week opened Tuesday, April 15, against Skyline. In a driving, consistent rain that soaked all the fans watching, the Spartans rallied for a five-inning win, 6-3. The game was called early due to that rain.
Mount Si scored all three runs in the second inning, all with two outs. First, Andrew Klausing reached base on a walk, then he stole second during the at-bat of the next hitter, Taylor Campbell. The sophomore, on a three-ball, two-strike count, fouled off three straight pitches, then hit a single, scoring Klausing.
The Skyline pitcher “was just throwing me straight fastballs, easy pitches to foul off,” Campbell said. “I was just looking for one to drive up the middle and I got it.”
The bases ultimately loaded up, and the Wildcats scored two more on a Skyline error off the bat of Jake Handy. The Spartans scored four in the fourth, then two more in the fifth, to seal it.
The weather cleared last Wednesday, April 16, for the Valley Cup nonleague rivalry game with Cedarcrest. In a well-played affair, Mount Si brought home the trophy with a hard-fought 3-2 win over a Red Wolves team that is looking like a potential postseason threat in 2A this season.
Coach Chaz Carr was pleased.
“It’s a little rivalry action there,” he said. “Justin Poth threw a great game, went all seven innings, threw under 90 pitches.”
Poth was happy as well.
“I went out there and I went back to my old ways,” Poth said. “I wasn’t trying to overpower them at all.”
Carr praised the Wolves, who are doing very well in the Cascade League, and gave league rival Archbishop Murphy all they could handle in a recent meeting. According to the Everett Herald, that game lasted 14 innings and was spread out over two days before Cedarcrest won.
“They came out here,” Carr said. “They’re not healthy right now, they’re not at full strength, but you can tell they’re a well-put-together ballclub.
“They’re going to win a lot of games this year,” he added. “That ranking for them in 2A, that’s legitimate. I wouldn’t want to face them in the playoffs.”
As for the future, Carr hopes to keep this rivalry going.
“Definitely with our league changing up next year, we’re not going to have as many nonleague games,” he said. “But it’s definitely fun for the kids on both sides to play each other, being so close and being out here in the Valley. If we can keep it going, we’ll definitely keep it going.”
Last Thursday, April 17, the Wildcats gave a good effort, but it was Liberty who took control early, and had to hang on late, for a 5-4 victory over Mount Si.
The Patriots had hits in all seven innings, 13 total for the game. Liberty scored twice in the first off of Wildcat starting pitcher Campbell, then scored another in the third on a home run. The Patriots scored twice more in the fifth, before the Wildcats responded.
A Hepner double scored Zach Guyer, then a single by Michael Davenport scored Hepner. Mount Si scored once more in the sixth, on a single by Handy that scored Tim Proudfoot, who started the rally off with a double. The Wildcats scored once more in the seventh, and loaded the bases with two out, but Danny Cavanaugh grounded out to second to end the comeback attempt.
Mount Si rolled into Mercer Island last Friday, April 18, and left with a key 4-0 victory, which kept them in the playoff hunt.
This week the Wildcats are at home Wednesday, April 23, against Sammamish, as they welcome back former coach Gary McGregor, who is a Totems assistant this season. On Friday, April 25, they are home against a Bellevue team also in the playoff hunt, so a win there is critical for the Wildcats. Game times are 4 p.m.
