The words “Refuse to Lose” became a battle cry for fans during the 1995 Seattle Mariners baseball pennant run. Eleven years later, that same theme appears to be true for the Mount Si Wildcat girls’ softball team. For the second straight game, the Wildcats rallied to win in extra innings last Monday.

Katie Morgan’s double in the bottom of the 10th scoring two runs, led Mount Si to a 4-3 victory over Issaquah. “I knew I just had to get it on the ground or a hard-line shot to get at least one run in to tie it up and [Eagles pitcher Christine Miller] had pitched me down the middle the whole game, so I decided to jack it,” said Morgan.

Mount Si got on the board first against Miller in the bottom of the third. Kali Walker walked, and Traci Barclay sacrifice bunted Walker to second. Barclay was out on the play. A single by Morgan scored Walker to put the Wildcats up 1-0. Two Issaquah errors enabled Lacey Blais to score a run for Mount Si in the bottom of the fourth.

The Eagles scored twice in the fifth to tie things up at 2-2. It stayed that way until the 10th inning. Under international tiebreaker rules, Issaquah started a runner at second and, despite Wildcat pitcher Kandis Clesson striking out all three Eagles, that runner scored on a throwing error by catcher Katie Shaw. Issaquah had the lead 3-2.

Mount Si didn’t give up. With Walker starting at second under the tiebreaker rule, she was the final out of the ninth for the Wildcats. Barclay singled to advance the senior outfielder to third. Barclay stole second, then Morgan crushed a Miller pitch into the left center field gap, scoring both runners, and the celebration was on.

The Wildcats traveled to Newport last Wednesday and officially clinched their SeaKing District berth with a 3-0 shutout of the Knights. Clesson fired a one-hitter as Mount Si clinched a district berth for the fourth straight year.

The win didn’t come without a bit of a scare for the Wildcats. In the seventh, Barclay was injured after being tagged hard in the face by Newport’s Anna James. James was tossed from the contest as a result of the excessive tag. The incident, which forced Barclay to also leave the game, soured what was otherwise a decent day for the sophomore shortstop; she went 2-for-4.

Last Friday was “Senior Day” and the four Mount Si seniors – Clesson, Morgan, Walker, and Alicia Elmore – were honored prior to the contest. Then, the Wildcats made quick work of the Mercer Island Islanders, 10-0 in five innings; the game was called early due to the mercy rule. Katie Brett’s single in the bottom of the fifth scored Shaw with the game-clinching run. Mount Si scored six runs in the fourth to put the game away.

In the top of the fifth, the four seniors, who all started, were taken out of the game and given a standing ovation by Wildcat fans. For Clesson, it has been a wonderful ride. “It’s been a great four years. We did really well, especially this year, a lot better than everyone expected, so that was good and we’re still going,” the Idaho State-bound star said.

Coach Larry White will especially miss Clesson and Morgan. “Kandis and Katie have been just an incredible part of our program for the last four years and contributed huge, and yes, we are going to miss them,” White said.

Once again, Mount Si appears to be looking good in postseason. White thinks they can go far. “I’m going to go out on a limb. I think we’re going to go to the state tournament,” White said. Look for Issaquah and Sammamish to be the Wildcats’ toughest challenges in the league tournament this weekend. The key to success will be the offense, since the Wildcats’ pitching and defense is solid.

The Wildcats open postseason play Thursday in the Kingco tournament at 5:30 p.m. against Issaquah or Bellevue, then play again Saturday afternoon at noon or 2 p.m. depending on the outcome of Thursdays game. Both games are at Issaquah High School.