Last Monday and Tuesday, the Mount Si baseball team faced some tough opposition, but held its own and pulled off two of the biggest shockers in the conference so far this year, beating perennial powerhouses Newport and Issaquah on consecutive days.
Mount Si 5, Newport 4
In what could be best described as the biggest win for this program in several years, the Wildcats stunned Newport with a dramatic 5-4 win at Mount Si High School.
The Knights opened the scoring in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by Nick Reese, which scored Jeff James. Mount Si responded in the bottom of the inning on a two-run single by Scott Johnson that scored Garret Parson and G.C. Hillburn, putting the Wildcats in the lead 2-1.
Newport, in the top of the third, scored three runs, keyed by a single from Jay Miller, which, with the aid of a Wildcat error, scored Jeff Miller and Josh Sabian. That gave the Knights a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the third.
The ‘Cats answered again when pitcher Nick Harpel sent a ball all the way to the fence in left-center field, scoring Josh Serrick and Alex Smart to tie the game going to the fourth.
Harpel then took control on the pitching mound. He kept the score tied at four going into the bottom of the seventh. Then Dan Baldwin, with the bases loaded and one out, hit a fly ball that dropped to the ground just past the diving Newport center fielder. That scored Serrick for the dramatic game-winning run. Both the Wildcat players and their fans celebrated wildly after the game.
Jeff Sattler, normally an assistant coach with the team, was serving as head coach in Gary McGregor’s absence. He was very excited about his team’s wild victory.
“We played up to our potential today,” Sattler said. “I think the kids played hard. We showed that we can play in this league. Nick Harpel threw a tremendous game for us – over 100 pitches – but threw a great game, [and he] had a couple of big hits. I think it’s the first time this year we had a good, solid outing for seven innings,” he said.
Mount Si 8, Issaquah 5
The Wildcats made it 2-for-2 against the KingCo Conference’s best on Tuesday, when Scott Johnson and Bryce Kaestner starred for the Wildcats in a big win over the Issaquah Indians.
Mount Si busted out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second, when Johnson’s single scored Brandon Sales and Taylor McLellan. He then scored himself on a single by Jeremy Bess. Mount Si could have scored a fourth run in the inning, but Bess was thrown out at home for the final out.
The Indians responded over the next two innings, tying the game at 3-3. The Wildcats responded in the bottom of the fourth and took the lead for good. Bess’ double scored Johnson and Jordan Lettau, then Bess scored on a hit by Alex Smart. Mount Si poured it on in the bottom of the sixth inning, when it scored twice to get an 8-3 lead.
Kaestner, after pitching six strong innings, in which he gave up three runs on seven hits while striking out four, was relieved in the seventh by teammate Nick Kirschner. Despite putting a bit of a scare into the Wildcats by giving up a two-run home run to the Indians’ Colin Curtis, Kirschner got the job done.
McGregor was pleased with his team’s performance last week, saying, “They’re good wins. Absolutely. No question about it.”
Johnson thinks attitude was the key. “It’s great. We started off really slow but [Monday’s] win really picked it up for us, and we’ve just really been having a positive attitude.”
Kaestner was also happy with the help his teammates gave him. “It’s really nice. I felt good out there today. We had nice defense out there today, and our bats … [it’s] always nice to have the bats, especially when you’re pitching.”
