Wildcats go 3-0 in preseason
Published 11:02 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
SNOQUALMIE – The Mount Si Wildcats baseball team is off to a great start, with no thanks to Mother Nature. Weather hampered the team’s efforts to get their games in last week, but the Wildcats overcame the worst of the weather and played all three of their games, all of which ended in wins.
Mount Si, due to rain, had their season opener at Highline pushed back from last Monday to last Tuesday, but the wait was well worth it, as the Wildcats got the job done against their former Seamount League rivals. Adam Dentz pitched a solid game and added two home runs as Mount Si thumped the Pirates 5-1 at Moshier Field in Burien. Craig Weber added a home run of his own as the Wildcats scored all five runs in the first three innings of the contest against Highline. Dentz pitched three innings and struck out six, while reliever Kenny Casem pitched four no-hit innings to seal the victory. Casem got the credit for the win.
“This was Kenny’s first varsity game and I think he was a little nervous that fourth inning. He walked the first guy, but he worked out of it and pitched great the remaining three innings,” said Mount Si coach Gary McGregor in an e-mail.
Mount Si’s offense took off in the third inning. With one out, a groundout by Chris Brown scored Ian Atkinson. After that, Dentz, with a runner on at second base, hit a two-run home run to right center, scoring both himself and Weber. The Pirates’ lone run came in the bottom of the third when catcher Lucas Shaw doubled, scoring Ben Guidos with two out.
“We had seven players playing in their first varsity game. I was pleased with the effort the guys gave. It was nice to get out and compete,” McGregor said. “It was a good way to start the season.”
Team shuts down West Valley Yakima
Mount Si, despite bad weather and equally lousy road conditions on Snoqualmie Pass, made it across the mountains on Saturday and played two games in Yakima.
The early start of the first game did not faze the Wildcats, as they had an easy time with host West Valley of Yakima. Weber had a huge game, going 3-5 with four RBIs, a home run and a triple, as Mount Si walloped the Rams 9-0.
Weber’s home run came in the fourth inning against the Mid-Valley League team. Chris Brown shut the Rams down the rest of the way, two-hitting WV-Yakima in three innings of work in relief of Dentz, who pitched the first four innings. Dentz struck out eight hitters, seven of them in a row, and only giving up one hit. The Washington State University-bound senior picked up his first win of the year.
Atkinson went 3-for-4, Brown went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Remo Castagno went 2-for-2.
Undefeated record built up against Kennedy
After a two-hour break, the Wildcats returned to the field to play their second former Seamount League rival of the week, the Kennedy Lancers. Unlike their Tuesday affair with Highline, this one was topsy-turvy.
Weber hit a home run and picked up two RBIs as Mount Si rallied from a 7-4 deficit with a four-run sixth inning to grab the lead and hold on for a wild 9-7 win over Kennedy in game two.
Weber’s homer came in a fateful sixth inning, scoring both him and Atkinson who reached base on a Kennedy throwing error that itself allowed two more Wildcat runners to score.
Casem pitched the first couple of innings and struggled some. He gave up six runs, six walks, but only gave up three hits. Erik Alexander relieved Casem in the third and shut down the Lancers. The junior walked only one and gave up one additional run. Alexander picked up the win in relief.
Mount Si this week wraps up their non league schedule. Weather permitting, they play Inglemoor of Kingco 4A Wednesday night in Kenmore, then travel to Thurston County Saturday for a 1 p.m. game against Pac-9 League school Black Hills, in Tumwater.
