Young team returns with core of talent

Published 8:42 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – Last year the Mount Si Wildcats stunned Kingco rivals with a 21-7 record and state berth following a tumultuous last-place finish in 2002. With the core of the team returning, this year’s squad looks to carve out a reputation as being among the state’s elite diamond dwellers.

It won’t be a cake walk, as a lack of player turnout will find the 2004 squad void of seniors and only 11 players deep.

The Wildcats’ coach Larry White, returning for his third season, blamed the low turnout on a number of factors.

“I was trying to put a finger on it, and I think a part of it is not having a junior high program really hurts,” said White. “There’s not the interest there. There’s really nothing to feed other than the Little League program. And there’s just so many options for the kids these days, it’s really hard to put a finger on one thing that would cause that.”

Low turnout aside, the entire core group of players that led Mount Si’s run to state last season are back.

Juniors Kayla Jayne, Amy Trenkamp and Emily White, along with sophomores Katie Morgan and Kandis Clesson, lead the charge once again this season. They are joined by freshman newcomer Lacey Blais.

Blais’s potential already is earning rave reviews.

“Lacey’s going to be a dynamic player. She’s giving us a lot of range in the outfield and a lot of speed and strength in her throw,” said Trenkamp. “I think that she’s going to bring a lot of enthusiasm to us and just a fresh reminder everyday that we love playing the game.”

Blais said her teammates have helped out immensely in just the first few days of the season.

“They’ve already given us tons of good information that we can carry on to doing better things. They are really good leaders,” she said.

Kingco 3A looks solid once again, with the same four teams (Mount Si, Issaquah, Liberty and Skyline) who dominated last season likely to do the same again this season.

The White family appears somewhat divided on the team’s chances this season.

“We’re going to approach this year much like we did last year,” said coach White. “There’s a lot of unanswered questions.”

Daughter Emily is more optimistic.

“We’re going back to state. We’re going to do better than we did last year, for sure,” said the junior.

Mount Si opens its Kingco 3A schedule March 19 at Liberty High School in Renton. The team opens at home March 23 against Sammamish. All softball games this season are weather permitting, with first pitch at 4 p.m.