‘Cats claw way into fourth place with win

Published 9:29 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – The Mount Si baseball team continued to improve its KingCo League record as it made its way to the midseason point. The Wildcats played Sammamish at home last Thursday, beating the Totems by a score of 10-5.

This win brought the ‘Cats’ record to the .600 mark and tied them with Interlake for fourth place. Both teams are now 6-4.

In the bottom of the first inning, Marc Dahm cranked a double to center field, and Scott Johnson hit an infield single. Another base hit by Mike Dahm loaded the bases with only one out.

Aaron Svarthumle drew a walk and Marc Dahm scored the first run. The Totems got the next two outs before anyone else could score.

In the top of the second, a Sammamish batter led off with a walk and then stole second base. The next batter singled and the runner on second scored the Totems’ first run, tying the game at 1-1.

The runner on first advanced to second on a passed ball, then scored as the next Sammamish batter hit a double. Play was suspended for the next 45 minutes because of rain, and when the game resumed, Sammamish was still hot. The Totems’ next batter singled, which brought in the base runner and upped the team’s lead to 3-1.

Mount Si came back in the bottom of the second with three more runs, which pulled them ahead 4-3. Josh Serrick started things off with a single to center field, and with one out, he stole second base. Marc Dahm hit a single and Serrick advanced to third. Johnson knocked a single of his own, scoring Serrick and moving Dahm to second.

With two outs, David LaBelle hit a single, moving Johnson to third and scoring Dahm. A single by Svarthumle brought in Johnson before the Totems ended the inning.

In the third inning, Mount Si pitcher Nick Harpel gave up a walk, three singles and one run before coach Gary McGregor made a change. Brent Clarke closed out the inning for the ‘Cats, keeping the score knotted at 4-4.

In the bottom of the third, Jeremy Bess singled, and quickly made it to second on a bunt by Serrick. Then Tyler Osborn singled and brought home Bess. With two outs, a wild pitch was thrown and Osborn went to second. A subsequent single by Johnson allowed Osborn to score Mount Si’s sixth run of the game. Mike Dahm came to the plate next and smashed a double to center field, scoring Johnson.

When Sammamish came up to bat in the fourth, the score was 7-4 in favor of the ‘Cats. Clarke walked the first two batters and the third made it safely to first on a throwing error. The third-base runner scored, but Clarke quickly buckled down and struck out the next three batters to end the inning.

In Mount Si’s turn at bat, Clarke helped his own cause with a single, and Bryce Kaestner came in to run for the ‘Cats’ pitcher. Bess singled, but Kaestner was out at second. Bess went to second on a wild pitch, and then Serrick singled, sending Bess to third base. With two outs, Sattler hit a double and Bess and Serrick scored, giving Mount Si a 9-5 lead.

No runs were scored in the fifth inning, and Mount Si kept Sammamish from chipping away at the lead in the sixth.

In the bottom of sixth, Clarke hit another single. Kaestner came in to run for him and moved to second on a wild pitch. Kaestner scored the ‘Cats’ 10th run on a single by Serrick. The Totems went scoreless in the seventh, and Mount Si won the game 10-5.

Clarke pitched nearly five innings, giving up no hits while throwing six strikeouts and allowing one run. McGregor was pleased with his performance.

“Brent Clarke pitched four-plus innings of no-hit baseball. He did a great job in shutting down Sammamish,” McGregor said. “He came in and kept the score tied and gave us a chance to come back and win.”

Marc Dahm hit a double and scored two runs for the Wildcats. Mike Dahm had a double and an RBI, and Bess smacked one hit and scored two runs.

Instrumental in the win was Johnson, who scored two runs, and had two RBIs on three hits, as well as Serrick, who had three hits, one of which was an RBI, and two runs scored. Sattler also hit a double and brought in two RBIs.

“Josh Serrick and Scott Johnson had a great game offensively. They each had three hits apiece, and those hits came at key times in the game,” McGregor said.

Mount Si plays Mercer Island at 4 p.m. Friday, at home.