Mount Si baseball building on deep experience

The Mount Si baseball program is building itself into a strong team. But this year, they must overcome several challenges to make it far into the playoffs.

The Wildcats finished 14-7 last year under Chaz Carr, who is back for his third season. He is excited about the upcoming season.

“We had a good year. We’re hoping to build on that,” Carr said. “This is the year that we’ve put more work in the weight room in the offseason than Mount Si has ever seen before as a baseball program. We’re excited about that.”

Mount Si’s strength this season was expected to be in their pitching rotation, with a solid one-two punch of seniors Taylor Campbell and Frank Tassara.

Campbell tore the ACL in his right knee last December during a game at Liberty and will not be able to pitch this season as a result of that injury, which can take several months to heal. This is expected to put a lot of pressure on Tassara, but he has been in this position before and thrived in it. Look for Tassara to possibly be among the top pitchers in Kingco this season.

He is also expected to have some help in that number-two slot in the form of senior transfer Josh Kimborowicz, who comes in from a solid state-caliber 4A club at Jackson in Mill Creek.

“I’m pretty excited to play down here. It’s a great program and I want to win a state championship for this school,” Kimborowicz said.

Mount Si has a number of returning players as well; namely juniors such as Tim Proudfoot, Dustin Breshears and Matt Bankston. If those players emerge as expected, they, combined with Tassara, could make for a great season. The main cog for this team is expected to be senior Rossco Castagno.

“After last year, we’re not going to take any teams for granted,” Castagno said. “We’re going to go into every game with the same mentality. We’re going to work hard and try to get a win.”

The Wildcats will have some tough competition, though, as they are expected to compete with Juanita, Bellevue and Liberty for the league’s top spot this season. Carr thinks this could be a wide-open race.

“There’s no gimmes in this league,” he said.

For the second straight season, Mount Si will get to play a game at Safeco Field. The Wildcats will play Kentwood April 24 at the Seattle Mariners’ home stadium.

Contact Snoqualmie Valley Record Sports contributing Writer Rhett Workman at rwteam97@yahoo.com or 425-888-2311.

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