SNOHOMISH — The Cascade Bruins baseball team was one mistake away from the end of their season, but managed a dramatic reversal to beat Cascade 10-4 in eight innings and stay alive in the consolation bracket of the 4A District 1 Baseball Tournament.
The game was back-and-forth from the beginning.
KJ Brady — who pitched all eight and eventually got the win — gave up three runs in the second to fall behind early.
Cascade inched their way back into it, scoring one in each subsequent inning until the score was tied 3-3. Which is where it stood when the Panthers pushed the Bruins to the brink of elimination.
Snohomish came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and loaded the bases with just one out. The list of ways a Panther could reach home was about as long as it gets. Fortunately for Cascade and Brady, a pop out to first wasn’t on it. Neither, it turns out, was the chopper to third that allowed the Bruins to get the final out at first.
Preserving the 3-3 tie allowed Cascade’s hitters another chance, and through a combination of clutch hits, errors and a lot of walks, they rallied for seven runs to put the game out of Snohomish’s reach.
Catcher Michael Mazza opened the inning with a base hit, which was followed by an intentional walk and a bunt by Ryan Lucas for another base hit. Snohomish then walked in what would be the winning two runs. Another single and a sac fly helped Cascade pad its lead.
Mazza finished 4-for-4 with a solo home run to lead the Bruins.
Snohomish got one back in the bottom of the eigth but couldn’t muster any more.
“It was exciting. … It was a close game the whole way. We just happened to have a big inning at the right time. The game was a lot closer than the score indicated,” said Cascade head coach Scott Stencil.
That is born out by the hit totals. Six Snohomish batters had two hits, and the team totaled 13, one less than Cascade.
The Panthers made an early exit from the tournament after losing just two league games this season.
Cascade hosts Kamiak today at 4 p.m. and must win that game plus two more to earn a state tournament berth.
At Snohomish H.S.
Cascade00111007—10143
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KJ Brady and Michael Mazza. Cormick Rizzo, Jordan Prokop (8), Andrew Conrad (8), Garrett Stich (8) Thomas Pennington (8) and Ben Dmochowsky. WP—Brady. LP—Prokop. 2B—Danny Townsend (C), Ben Dmochowsky (S), Kyle Gionet (S), Andrew Ivelia (S). 3B—Kyle Gionet (S). HR—Michael Mazza. Records—Cascade 15-7 overall. Snohomish 16-5.
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