MUKILTEO — The Kamiak baseball team doesn’t know if it will play another game this season.
But the Knights bought themselves at least one more practice.
Kamiak kept its playoff hopes alive with a 3-2 Wesco 4A victory over Cascade Tuesday afternoon at Kamiak High School. The game, which was moved from Cascade’s field to Kamiak because of weather, was a must-win contest for the Knights to have a chance to clinch a spot in this weekend’s 4A District 1 playoffs.
“You control what you can control. The only thing we could control is how we played on the field,” said Kamiak head coach Frank Nickerson. “That keeps us alive. It would have been nice if we had won the game on Monday and it would have been in our hands. Now, we have to rely on other teams.”
Kamiak finished its regular season with a 6-8 league mark, and an 8-11 record overall. The Knights are half a game behind Lake Stevens (6-7 league record) and Monroe.
Both Lake Stevens and Monroe had their games rained out on Tuesday and rescheduled for Wednesday. The Vikings take on Jackson (7-6, 9-10) and Monroe faces Mount Vernon (8-5, 12-7). If one of either Lake Stevens or Monroe lose, it will be eliminated and Kamiak will earn the final playoff berth. If both Lake Stevens and Monroe lose, there will be a three-way tie for the final two playoff spots, resulting in a tiebreaker that will consist of three-inning games to be played later this week.
The Knights did their part, getting a needed win against Cascade (7-7, 8-11) to stay in the hunt.
“You’ve got to tip your caps to them,” said Cascade head coach Scott Stencil. “They did a great job. They were in a do-or-die game. They had to win and they were able to get just enough timely hits to get it done.”
The “Home” Bruins struck first with a run in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI single by Matthew Butler. The Knights tied the score in the top of the fourth when Ty Crosby was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Andrew Pitts.
Jake Long put Kamiak ahead in the fifth inning with an RBI single and the Knights added another run on a wild pitch to build a 3-1 lead.
Cascade closed to within one with a sacrifice fly by Michael Carter in the sixth inning but the Bruins couldn’t get the tying run across the plate.
“It was a well-played game,” Nickerson said. “(Monday against Cascade) we had a few more extra-base hits. (Tuesday) we got guys on and we kind of struggled to get that one that would open it up. But we managed to squeak a few through.”
Long led the Knights, going 2-for-4 in the game. Long and his teammates will spend Wednesday practicing and rooting for Mount Vernon and Jackson to be victorious.
“We just want to keep playing,” Nickerson said. “We need either Lake Stevens or Monroe to lose, or both. … We’re going to practice. We’re going to come out and practice. We believe in working hard and seeing what happens. We’ll wait and see.”
Austin Pinorini went 2-for-2 with a double, run scored, two walks and two stolen bases to lead Cascade, which “could be anywhere from third to sixth” in the final league standings, according to Stencil.
“(Pinorini’s) been huge,” the Cascade coach said. “He’s our catcher but he’s very athletic — he can pitch, he can close, he can play outfield. He’s starting to get his swing really locked in right now. We put him in the leadoff spot to try to get him an extra at bat and he’s done a great job there getting on base.”
There was significant rain for the first few innings of the game, but the weather calmed down for the second half of the contest.
After the loss, Stencil told his team to work on getting better as the Bruins prepare for their district opener at 1 p.m. Saturday. Due to the craziness of the Wesco 4A standings, Cascade doesn’t yet know who — or where — it will play.
“Our biggest thing is competition,” Stencil said. “We want to compete with each other for the next three days and try to get better and be ready to play hopefully our best game on Saturday, whoever the opponent may be (and) wherever the game may be.”
At Kamiak H.S. (Moved from Cascade H.S. — Bruins home team)
Kamiak 000 120 0 — 3 6 0
Cascade 100 001 0 — 2 6 0
Connor Alexander, R.J. Scruggs (6) and Jake Long. Kelly Kim, Nik Soros (5), Brennen Hancock (7) and Austin Pinorini. 2B—Andrew Pitts (K), Pinorini (C). Records—Kamiak 6-8 league, 7-13 overall. Cascade 7-7, 8-11.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
