Leaping, cheering and embracing in midair, Mount Si High School’s boys of 2011 hefted the Washington Interscholastic Athletics Association 3A trophy high overhead, celebrating the school’s first-ever win of a state baseball championship.
The win, claimed in a nail-biting bottom-of-the-seventh push against Shorewood on Saturday, May 28, embodied the ‘Cats’ never-give-up attitude.
The Wildcats had taken the lead in the first, 2-0, but fell behind as the Thunderbirds racked up two scores in the third and fourth, then a homer in the fifth to bring home two runners.

Down 4-2 going into the seventh, Mount Si had two outs when senior Max Brown stepped to the plate for his final at-bat of his senior career. Tuning out the noise of the crowd, Brown whacked a base hit and ran for first when he heard the crowd erupt, with Tim Proudfoot coming home thanks to a Shorewood error.

Moments before, Proudfoot had tied the game, bringing home Robb Lane and Dustin Breshears on a single.

“Nice and easy, stay relaxed,” Brown recalled thinking at the plate.

“I knew that we were winning it all along, I didn’t doubt it,” he added. “It feels great. Everyone wants to be a Wildcat.”

Senior Reece Karalus did duty on the mount through the fifth, followed by junior Trevor Taylor, who tasted crucial state hot-seat experience in the tense final moments of the game.

“We never died,” head coach Elliott Cribby said. “I can’t be more proud… this has never happened in the Snoqualmie Valley (school district). There should definitely be a parade and celebration for what these kids have achieved. They’ve done something that many kids never get a chance to do.”

“It feels pretty good to hold it,” Karalus said, weighing the big WIAA trophy. He said he’ll remember the team “sticking together.”

“We’ve been down and out, we rallied back,” Robb Lane said.

From this season, he’ll remember that the 2011 Wildcats were more than just a baseball team, but a family.

“I’ll be able to call these guys 20 years from now,” he said.