The weather once again wreaked havoc with the Mount Si baseball team’s schedule last week, causing the cancellation of a Tuesday game, but the Wildcats did manage to squeeze in a wild one Thursday against Cedarcrest, losing 4-3.
The Wildcats opened their KingCo season two days late due to weather, against their Valley rivals from Cedarcrest. Mount Si scored two runs in the top of the first inning off a single from Jeremy Bess that scored Scott Johnson and Brandon Sales.
The Red Wolves answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first on a solo home run from Russell McGinnis.
Wildcat sophomore Alex Smart for the second straight game made an impact in the top of the fifth, hitting his – and the team’s – first home run of the season. The solo shot put the Wildcats up 3-1.
Brian Stephensen answered with a solo home run of his own for Cedarcrest in the bottom of the fifth, and the deficit for the Red Wolves was back down to one.
The Wildcats got strong pitching from Bryce Kaestner who pitched a complete, seven-inning game, giving up two earned runs on five hits and striking out six Cedarcrest hitters – all without walking one single Red Wolves hitter. Despite all of that, Kaestner took the loss because the wheels fell off for Mount Si in the final inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, with the Wildcats up 3-2, the Red Wolves’ Dustin Crawford opened the inning with an infield single. Sean Stephenson sacrifice bunted Crawford to second base. The next hitter, Jake Wheeler, reached first on a throwing error by Mount Si. The error allowed Crawford to score to tie the game 3-3.
Steven Powell then singled to give Cedarcrest two runners on base – at first and second – with just one out.
McGinnis, who had hit a home run earlier, struck out, giving the Red Wolves two outs.
The next hitter, Sean McDonald, came up to bat, and as he was hitting, a pitch got past the Mount Si catcher. The runners advanced, and the throw from home to third went wide, allowing Wheeler to score and seal the game in dramatic fashion for Cedarcrest.
The loss puts Mount Si’s record at 0-1 in league, 0-2 overall. Their next game was Monday at home vs. Issaquah, a make-up game from last week.
