Mount Si baseball’s promising playoff run came to a sudden, heartbreaking end Tuesday, May 12.
Playing in the first round of the Kingco Tournament at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue, the Wildcat boys fell to the Juanita Rebels, 8-7, but refused to go down without a fight.
Mount Si rallied from an 8-0 deficit in the last two innings, to keep things interesting. But Juanita, coming in as a number-six seed, used a solid 5-RBI day from Kris Otterholt which included a grand slam home run to upset the number-three seeded team from the Valley.
“Our seniors battled the whole time,” said Mount Si coach Chaz Carr.
The upperclassmen worked their tails off in the game, he added.
“We have leadership this year, and that’s the bottom line,” said Carr. “It’s a tough way to go out, but these kids (can) hold their heads up high.”
Juanita came out of the gate swinging, said Wildcat catcher Danny Cavanaugh.
“They had some bloopers here and there, some cheap little hits, but we battled back and we showed a lot of character,” Cavanaugh added.
The Rebels went right to work in the first inning against Mount Si starter Michael Davenport. A two-out double down the third base line by Mitch Iverson went past a diving Wildcat third baseman Zach Guyer and scored Weston Railton and Jordan Padilla, putting Juanita was up 2-0. Davenport improved from there, but his counterpart from Juanita on the mound, Robbie Ryan, proved to be better, as he shut down the Mount Si bats, giving up only one hit through four innings.
A single by Otterholt in the fourth scored J.J. Caldwell to give Juanita a 3-0 lead. The floodgates opened in the fifth against Wildcat reliever and top pitcher Frank Tassara. With two out, Caldwell singled to score Railton. Two batters later, and with Caldwell, Cole Graves and Nick Olearian on base, Otterholt crushed a Tassara pitch over the left field fence for the slam, and the Rebels were up 8-0.
Mount Si’s bats then responded. Guyer and Dustin Breshears singled and Castagno grounded out to score Guyer. Three hitters later, Taylor Campbell hit a single which scored Breshears and Matt Bankston. Zack Robinson singled to score Campbell, and the Wildcats were back in it, down 8-4.
Trevor Taylor came in to pitch the sixth and seventh innings, relieving Tassara. Despite some struggles, the freshman did his job and kept the Rebels off the board, allowing the Wildcats to continue their comeback attempt. The Wildcats scored three more times down the stretch, with triples by Tim Proudfoot and Robinson in the seventh making the score 8-7, but Mount Si could get no closer. Trevor Lane struck out to end the game and season for the Wildcats.
Mount Si ends the season at 14-7 on the year. The team overcame a lot during the season, the coach said.
“We battled through probably more injuries than anybody else in the league,” Carr said. “Our kids hung together. They battled together, and we had some young kids step up.”
Seniors Guyer, Davenport and pitcher Alex Hiebert will graduating, but Mount Si will continue to contend as a team.
“Expect big things from us” next season, Carr said. “We’re a great team. Come watch us play.”
