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History
Posted
at
1:18 pm
by Jennifer Buchanan/Staff Photographer
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald (click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 1000, 1/1250 sec., f2.8)
Teammates congratulate Ryan Sells (far left in helmet) after Sells' two-run homer in the fifth inning put Mountlake Terrace up 13-3 over Marysville-Pilchuck and ended the game.
The 4A District Championship game Saturday had all the makings of a baseball game without a photo. Marysville-Pilchuck pitchers, all three of them in a five inning game, were having trouble locating the strike zone. Starting pitcher Frank Nelson gave up six walks and three wild pitches in just an inning and 2/3rds, resulting in a five-run first for Mountlake Terrace.
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald (click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 1000, 1/2000 sec., f3.5)
Marysville-Pilchuck starting pitcher Frank Nelson examines the ball after loading the bases in the first inning. Mountlake Terrace would score five runs in the first.
The scoreboard said 5-0 after the first, but none of the runs scored made anything that resembled a good “winning” photo. Sure, there were some high-fives and a couple of fist bumps, but nothing that could lead a Sunday sports cover.
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald (click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 1000, 1/2000 sec., f3.5)
Mountlake Terrace players Tyler McDowell (left) and Jacob Mann (14) bump fists after McDowell came around to score in the first.
At this point, I was hoping for a comeback by Marysville-Pilchuck, if only to create a little suspense over who might win the game. In my experience, close games result in much better photos. The game isn’t over until it’s over and the winners are truly excited and celebrate all at once. In a blowout, the kids know who’s going to win and who’s going to loose before the end and don’t react with so much passion. But my hope of a comeback by M-P wasn’t going to happen, as their pitchers continued to struggle and Terrace’s pitcher, Jake Theis, glided through his five-innings of work.
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald (click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 1000, 1/2000 sec., f2.8)
Marysville-Pilchuck's second pitcher John Trimble (right) and catcher Ryan Botham walk back to the mound after Trimble walked in a run in the second inning.
I started to get uncomfortable. I had photo hole on the sports cover to fill. Photos weren’t happening, as they often DON’T in baseball. There were a couple of plays at second, but in baseball, those are a dime a dozen and often end up being boring. I switched sides, from the third-base side to first. I had good view of Mountlake Terrace’s dugout from there and hoped to make some sort of reaction photo of the bench. I went from photographing a baseball game to photographing a baseball bench. Terrace was up 10-3 going into the fifth and I was dreading that they would score three more runs and end the game. (In prep baseball, there is a 10-run mercy rule; if any team goes up by 10 runs, the ump calls the game.) Sure enough, one run scored. Now we were only two runs way from the end and still no photo. Cold sweat. Up to the plate comes junior outfielder Ryan Sells. Small guy, didn’t strike me as a perennial homer hitter, just a solid prep baseball player. And while I’m busy trying to make a lame bench photo, Sells jacks his first homer of the season, a two-run home run to put Terrace up by ten, ending the game. Needless to say the bench exploded. The best possible photo scenario happened and I was ready for it. Yes, Mountlake Terrace blew out another team to win the District 1 title, but it wouldn’t have made a photo unless they won it in dramatic fashion. Two-run, walk-off home run anyone? I got lucky. Sells made my game. As he rounded the bases, his teammates streamed out of the dugout, ready to congratulate him as he touched home plate. Normally, the photo of the “home run helmet slapping” is from the third base side because the bench players orient themselves so they can see the base runner as he trots down the third base line. Again, I got lucky as Terrace’s standout shortstop Garrett Totten, held his teammates on the outside of the base path which meant that all their faces were pointed towards me. Sells came home and the helmet slapping ensued. Good day for Mountlake Terrace, good day for photos.
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald (click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 1000, 1/1250 sec., f2.8)
Teammates congratulate Ryan Sells (far left in helmet) after Sells' two-run homerun in the fifth inning put Mountlake Terrace up 13-3, ending the game.
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