Mount Si drops two close games

Published 8:39 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

BELLEVUE – The Mount Si Wildcats baseball team opened last week with a five-inning rout of the Interlake Saints at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue.

Mount Si won 13-1 to slide into the thick of the Kingco standings. The game was called early due to the 10-run rule.

Junior Craig Weber was the star of the day for Mount Si, going 2-for-2 with a two-run home run in the first inning to start things off for Mount Si. He would tally three RBIs on the game. Junior catcher Brandon Sales went 2-for-2 with two doubles and four RBIs.

Pitchers Adam Dentz and Mike Lindor combined on the two-hitter for the Wildcats. The lone Interlake run was scored on the fifth on an attempted double-steal when the Saints baserunner scored, but was thrown out at second.

It was a slugfest last Wednesday as the Cedarcrest Red Wolves out-slugged Mount Si 13-9.

“I think we stayed in there pretty well. We swung the bats well, there were some plays I think that were key that didn’t go our way, but I think overall it was a pretty well-played game,” said Mount Si senior shortstop/pitcher Jordan Lettau.

Wildcats senior starting pitcher Alex Smart gave up five runs in the first inning en route to a 6-0 Cedarcrest lead. Smart was lifted in favor of Lettau in the second, who held the Red Wolves at bay temporarily, allowing Mount Si to rally in the third and fourth innings to take a 7-6 lead. A Lettau double in the bottom of the fourth scored the tying and go-ahead runs.

Lettau then ran into trouble in the fifth when Cedarcrest scored four runs in the fifth to retake the lead. The team added runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Mount Si scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, but that was all. The Red Wolves picked up a total of 14 hits on the game.

The game with the Newport Knights last Thursday was not much different.

Mount Si and Newport combined for 27 hits. The Knights scored six runs in the fifth to rally from a 9-5 deficit and beat the Wildcats 12-10. Knights’ senior Josh Scofield hit a third inning solo home run to lead Newport to victory. Lettau led Mount Si offensively, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, and four other Wildcats each had two hits. Leading that group was junior Tyler Starkel, whose two hits, among them a double, resulted in three RBIs.

Despite the team’s slow start (2-4 conference; 3-5 overall with one game incomplete), the team’s hitting is solid. The Wildcats have scored at least 10 runs in four games, and have several hitters hitting above .300. Leading that group is Weber, hitting a torrid .462 with 8 RBIs.

However, it is Lettau that is earning significant praise from Mount Si coach Gary McGregor.

“If there is a surprise it would be Jordan Lettau. We knew that we would get good defense from him, but he has produced very well lately at the plate,” said McGregor.

He added that Lettau “has worked hard on his swing an it is paying off for him.”

The pitching numbers are average. Dentz has struck out 15 hitters on the season to lead the team. Senior Ian Opsal leads the staff in victories with a 2-0 record.

Unlike their counterparts in softball and soccer, the Wildcats baseball team will continue play during spring break. There is a road game Wednesday at Issaquah, then the Wildcats are at home Friday against Liberty. Both the Eagles and Patriots are ranked in the latest state high-school baseball poll, and Mount Si will be looking for revenge against Liberty, since the Patriots defeated the Wildcats 5-1 to open the season last month. Game times for both games, weather permitting, are at 4 p.m.