SNOQUALMIE – The Mount Si Wildcat softball team kept it together for awhile against the Liberty Patriots behind the stellar pitching of emergency starter Emily White but couldn’t muster any offense in their 10-0 loss.
Liberty’s star pitcher Brittany Morgan shut Mount Si down for five innings and the Patriot bats exploded in the fifth against White and reliever Katie Brett as Liberty rolled to a 10-0 five inning win called early due to the ten run rule.
Despite the bad result, White pitched a great ballgame under trying circumstances.
“I was really proud of Emily’s effort,” said Mount Si coach, and Emily’s father, Larry White. “She doesn’t work at pitching, and with KB (Brett) a little bit banged up, and with Kandis gone of course, Emily really showed a lot of senior leadership and went out there and kept us in the game for about four or five innings. Then they caught up to her and it got away from her.”
Emily White, for her part, said that it is just part of being a teammate.
“I just wanted to do what I could for the team,” she said. “Our team is coming together and it’s really all about the team right now, and whatever I could do, I’m going to do for that.”
Liberty coach Brian Hartman, even though his team won big and is looked at by some as a league favorite, is a big fan of the Wildcats.
“Our girls have gotten a lot of attention in the papers, the [Seattle] Times, and the Eastside [King County Journal] and stuff, and every time one of these newspapers calls me they say, ‘Well, whose No. 1 in the state’ and I say, ‘Mount Si’s No. 1 in the state,’ and then they say ‘Who’s No. 1 in Kingco?’ and I say, ‘Mount Si’s No. 1 in Kingco.’ I swear to God I’ve done it every single time,” he said.
Interlake and Liberty no problem for Mount Si
Clesson returned to the mound Wednesday and the ball got rolling again in a big way. She shut down the Interlake Saints in a 9-0 rout. Ashley Svarthumle and Kayla Jayne each had a strong day at the plate to lead Mount Si to victory.
On Friday, the battle between the Kingco’s top two pitchers, Clesson and Issaquah’s senior Brenda Bray, did not disappoint. Both Bray and Clesson shut down opposing hitters all day but it was Clesson who got the last laugh.
With Amy Trenkamp on second base, Clesson hit a double that landed between four different Eagle infielders, which scored Trenkamp for the game’s lone run. Clesson finished the game off with a strong seventh inning performance as the Wildcats won 1-0. Mount Si handed Issaquah their third straight loss and put themselves in a tie for first place with Liberty in Kingco 3A.
For Clesson, the victory was bittersweet, considering the recent events.
“It was kind of a rough week, but everybody pulled together and I think it made us stronger,” Clesson said.
The Wildcats are home at Centennial Fields on Wednesday for a meeting with the Mercer Island Islanders. On Friday, they go to Bellevue to face the Wolverines at Hidden Valley Park.
The Wolverines, surprisingly, are struggling this season, and were routed earlier in the year by Mount Si at Centennial. However, Bellevue beat a strong Newport team last Friday so they will not be easy to beat. First pitch for both contests is 4 p.m.
