Snoqualmie Valley Sports Journal

Mount Si’s baseball team used two big hits to explode for a huge second inning yesterday in their game against Liberty, and that proved to be enough as the Wildcats rolled.

Carson Breshears tripled and Zach Usselman hit a grand slam, and those two hits were the focal points for an eight-run second frame as Mount Si blew out Liberty 9-0 at Liberty High School in Renton. Breshears’ bases-loaded triple scored Chris Solomon, Miles Schimchick and Wyatt Baker, and the Usselman slam, his second “granny” in as many games, scored Breshears, Tanner Simpson and Evan Johnson.

Johnson and Schimchick doubled, and Colin Brown had two hits to pace the Wildcats. Aiden Huschle pitched six shutout innings, giving up seven hits and striking out four to earn the win and even his record at 1-1. Eddie Delgado and Michael Heath had two hits each to lead the Patriots.

Mount Si is under the lights at Juanita next Monday for a 7:00 first pitch against the Rebels at Lee Johnson Field in Kirkland.

Scoreboard:

Lake Washington 3, Sammamish 1: Lake Washington scored a key Kingco win over Sammamish last night at Lee Johnson Field in Kirkland, helping them take command in the battle for the lone conference 2A playoff seed to the Northwest District Tournament, which both teams are eligible for. Ryan Horita had a hit and two runs batted in to lead the Kangs. John Lyon pitched a complete game for LW, giving up the oneTotem run – which was earned – on three hits, striking out five.

Mercer Island 9, Bellevue 0: At Island Crest Park on Mercer Island, a double and homer from Jake Stenberg keyed the Islanders’ rout of the Wolverines. Stenberg scored two runs and drove in another as Chris Lawler pitched a two-hit complete game shutout to pace MI. Chandler Hawk and Chris Schasteen had the hits for Bellevue.

Interlake 5, Juanita 2: The Saints scored all of their runs in the first two innings to take care of the Rebels on home turf at Interlake High School in Bellevue. Ryan Wagner went 2-3 with a triple, two runs scored and two runs batted in to pace the Saints. Nate Wehner pitched a strong complete game to get the win for Interlake; he gave up both Rebel runs – of which only one was earned – on four hits, striking out four.

Newport 7, Eastlake 3: Jace Goforth went 3-3 with a run and three RBI’s for the Knights, who also saw a homer from AJ Block to help themselves to a Kingco 4A win at home at Newport High School in Bellevue. Mitch Augenstein and Mason Pierzchalski each had two hits to pace Eastlake. Todd Reese pitched 6 2/3 strong innings for the Knights to get the win; he gave up the three Wolves’ runs –all earned – on eight hits, striking out one.

Redmond 6, Skyline 2: Brendan Ecklebarger’s 3-3 day, which included a double, run scored and run batted in, led the Mustangs to the Kingco 4A road win over the Spartans at Skyline High School in Sammamish. Lucas Eliason went 2-4 to pace Redmond. Jason Santiago had two hits to lead the Spartans.

Kyle Francis pitched five solid innings to get the win for the Mustangs, giving up both Spartan runs – one earned – on six hits, striking out two.

Cedarcrest game rained out: Cedarcrest’s home game with Granite Falls was rained out and rescheduled for next week.

Fresh off her signing Wednesday with Central Washington University to play college softball for them starting next spring, Mount Si senior outfielder Celine Fowler and her teammates played a big game yesterday against the Juanita Rebels. And after what Fowler did, one can only wonder how her future college coach, Mallory Holtman, would have reacted had she been there to see it. One would have expected giddiness out of Holtman, because Fowler made a big difference and carried her Mount Si team to a huge win.

Fowler went 4-4 with a double, triple, two runs scored and one huge run batted in – what turned out to be the game-winning one – as the Wildcats rallied from a 5-1 hole and took control of the chase for top spot in the 3A Kingco Tournament with a dramatic 6-5 win over the Rebels. Fowler’s hit capped off a sixth-inning comeback that saw Mount Si score three runs to take the lead, and close things out despite a major Juanita threat in the seventh.

“This was Celine’s finest game in her four years as a Wildcat,” Mount Si coach Larry White said, as his Mount Si team moved ahead of Juanita and just ½ game back of the overall lead; 2A Lake Washington is ahead of the Wildcats for that overall top spot.

Fowler liked how her team responded to the early deficit. “Well, we were down by four and everyone was just rallying, no one gave up,” she said.

Juanita opened the scoring with three in the first off of Mount Si starter Rose Vogt. Vogt, a sophomore making her first start in the circle this spring, was inserted there primarily as a means of throwing off the Rebel hitters because of her more precise, detail-oriented pitching style. Juanita, though, quickly wised up to that and ran off a series of three singles, a double and walk after Vogt retired the first two hitters of the frame; the double, by Lisa Nelson, scored Madi Hedlund and Aimee Richardson, then Nelson scored on the last of the singles, by Tatum Kawabata.

Vogt was lifted after one inning and in came Paige Wetherbee, and she held down the Rebel hitters for much of the remainder of the game, allowing the Wildcats to rally. Mount Si started that in the third, when an infield single from Nikki Carroll with two outs enabled Fowler to score the first of her two runs; the ball was actually popped up, but dropped in front of several Rebels players in fair territory right in front of home plate.

The Rebels scored twice in the fourth; a bases-loaded walk by Wetherbee to Morgan Figueroa scored Kristina Warford, then a Hedlund single scored Kawabata to make it 5-1. The Wildcats rebounded in the fifth with a pair of their own. A sacrifice bunt by Britney Stevens allowed Vogt, who had walked to reach base, to score, then Fowler took advantage of a passed ball to score herself later in the frame for her second run of the game.

Then the sixth rolled around, and Mount Si was ready to go. Wetherbee opened it with a double, then Link singled, followed by one from Jenny Carroll. Jamie Trotto, pinch-hitting for Emily Webb, hit a sacrifice fly to score Wetherbee, then Link scored on a wild pitch, tying the game and completely changing the approach that the Wildcats had. With Vogt at bat, the speedy Nellie Joselyn was brought in to pinch-run for Carroll. Vogt struck out, but that didn’t matter too much because Fowler was right behind, and on the first pitch from Rebel pitching ace Milly Kawabata, Fowler ripped it on a line to the right center field fence. Joselyn scored and Fowler motored around to third for the triple to put Mount Si in front.

The Wildcat star did what she does best. “I feel really comfortable with my slap (hit),” Fowler said. “My slap is like my strong suit and Milly was throwing me inside, so I was just driving them with my power slap.” The confident approach that Fowler took to the plate was welcomed by White. “That’s what you hope for from your seniors and that’s what we’re starting to see is a lot of leadership out of our senior kids,” the coach said.

Britney Stevens lined out to first to end the inning, bringing up the meat of the Juanita batting order for the top of the seventh. Wetherbee walked Richardson, then allowed a single to Nelson. Warford sacrifice bunted to move her two teammates up a base each, opening first base with one out. Tatum Kawabata then was hit by a pitch, her second HBP by Wetherbee in the game, to load the bases for Rebel Clare Sovacool, a sophomore who had struggled in the contest leading up to the key at-bat; she had been hitless in three prior at-bats.

Sovacool popped out to Stevens in foul ground for the second out, but in a rather interesting development – and perhaps a surprising and disappointing one for the Rebels, Richardson did not attempt to score on that pop-up, even though it looked as if she could have easily scored and tied the game. Wetherbee then struck out Milly Kawabata to end the game with the win in scarlet and gray’s back pocket.

“I definitely had the top of the seventh inning going a little differently in my head,” Wetherbee quipped after the game, “but I’ve always got to make it interesting for everyone.” The junior pitched six innings, giving up two runs on three hits, with two K’s. “I think we’ve definitely hit a turning point in our season; it’s obviously a good turning point in our season, of course,” Wetherbee added. “I think that shows how good we are.”

Fowler is glad to get her college decision out of the way. “It’s awesome. I’m so excited for Central next year and I can’t wait to go play with all those girls,” she said.

Mount Si opens a stretch of six straight days worth of games starting Monday at Interlake. They return home next Tuesday for a makeup game with Liberty.

Scoreboard after the break. Continue reading →