It was a sudden end to the Mount Si Wildcats’ baseball season last week as they were dominated in all three contests by their opponents.
Mount Si fell to Newport last Monday. Knights pitchers Brian Buckham and Steve Wolf combined on a two-hit shutout as Newport won 5-0.
Buckham struck out 13 Wildcats in six solid innings of work, only giving up one hit. The two Mount Si hits came courtesy of Ian Atkinson and Remo Castagno. Jason Moseby and Ben Harty each hit solo home runs to lead Newport. Moseby’s blast in the seventh capped off a 3-for-3 afternoon, while Harty’s shot in the fourth was the centerpiece of a 2-for-3 day, which also included a double.
Jake Handy pitched a complete game loss for the Wildcats, giving up 10 hits total in the contest.
Morgan Kuhn went 2-for-3 with a run batted in to pace the Knights, who won the league regular season title with the victory.
Several major league scouts came to watch the final Wildcat home game last Wednesday against the Bellevue Wolverines. The game marked the final home game for several seniors, among them Erik Alexander, Remo Castagno, Beau Davis, Dane Fenton, Corey Lindberg and Zach Solomon.
The scouts were there to see Bellevue’s star shortstop Stephen Englund. Although he didn’t dazzle the scouts, the rest of the Wolverine-hitters did with their bats. Bellevue hit three home runs in a 12-0 five inning blowout of Mount Si in a game called early due to the 10-run rule.
“We hit the ball well today,” said Bellevue coach Mark Tyler.
The offense started early and came often for the Wolverines. In the first inning, on the second pitch from Wildcat starter Keegan Riley, junior Ryan Burnett hit a leadoff solo home run to left field. In the fourth, senior Cameron Akita and freshman Michael Englund both hit home runs. Akita’s was a two run shot to left center which put the Wolverines up 5-0. Just three batters later, Englund hit a three-run blast down the left field line to put Bellevue up 8-0. The ball went so far it nearly landed on Park Street behind the field.
For the Wolverines, this great hitting effort may mean good things for the postseason. Akita said he is ready. “We want to get far. I think we can, too,” he said.
The loss was a difficult one, especially since it happened on “Senior Day.” It also put Mount Si into a playoff for the final spot in the Kingco tournament last Thursday at Bannerwood Park.
Like their previous meeting at Island Crest Park April 22, it was all Islanders as MI won 11-2 and clinched the final spot in the Kingco tournament. Mount Si finished with a record of 4-11 in league; 7-14 overall.
Hunter Beaty went 2-for-3 with a double and triple, and picked up three RBIs to lead the Islanders. Kenny Kim went 3-for-4 also with three RBIs. Boyd once again gave the Wildcats fits; he added a double and two RBIs to the cause.
Catcher Blake Hepner went 2-2 to lead Mount Si, who was outscored 28-2 in their final three contests. The Wildcat offense only was able to muster nine hits in those three games.
For Wildcat coach Gary McGregor, losing this senior class, in particular Castagno and Alexander, will hurt. “With Remo and Erik, it’s going to be hard to replace their leadership skills. They’re the first ones here, last ones to leave all the time. They took the younger guys under their wing and kind of showed them the ropes,” said McGregor.
Alexander will miss it, too. “I’m definitely going to miss the competition of the game. That’s why I play it,” said the pitcher/outfielder, who plans on attending the University of Washington next year and major in some form of engineering.
