SNOHOMISH — Jake Mulholland is back.
The Snohomish lefty, who recently returned to the pitching mound after experiencing arm soreness earlier in the season, made his fourth start of the year in Monday afternoon’s 4A District 1 semifinal against Jackson.
And he already looks to be in midseason form.
The senior struck out nine batters and allowed just one hit in the Panthers’ 10-0 five-inning victory over Jackson at Snohomish High School.
The victory clinches a spot in Thursday’s district championship game against Cascade.
“He is just a fantastic pitcher,” said Snohomish head coach Kim Hammons. “He’s probably throwing 84-88 (miles per hour), great curve ball that was breaking maybe a little more than I’ve seen it in the past. I’m glad I wasn’t hitting against him.
“Just strike after strike after strike — he’s a strike machine. He just controlled the game. He’s an outstanding pitcher. I wish we would have had him all year. But we’re happy to have him now. And he’s fresh.”
Mulholland improved to 4-0 with Monday’s victory. The Oregon State recruit tossed 72 pitches on Monday and has pitched just 222/3 innings this season for Snohomish (16-6 overall), which finished second in Wesco 4A after defeating Jackson 5-3 in a seeding game last Wednesday.
Cascade, the Panthers’ next opponent, won the regular-season league title.
“He’s the best pitcher in the area. We all knew it,” said Jackson head coach Kirk Nicholson. “This league would have been different with him healthy the whole year. They wouldn’t be a No. 2. He’s going to Oregon State for a reason. He’s really, really good.”
Snohomish got on the scoreboard early with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Panthers, who tallied eight hits and benefited from six Jackson errors, added to their total with a pair of runs in the third and blew the game open with a five-run fourth inning.
Kealen Martin was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored and Adam Ivelia (1-3) drove in three runs for Snohomish. Andrew Kane (1-3) added a pair of RBI.
“Our bats — we produced (eight) hits today and I think our 4-5-6-7-9 hitters all had RBI,” Hammons said. “We really didn’t bang the ball around the park. We hit the ball in holes.”
It was more than enough for Mulholland, who didn’t allow a hit until the top of the fifth inning. The senior, who didn’t walk a batter in the game, wasn’t too broken up about losing the no-hit bid in the final inning.
“It’s usually one run or one hit — I never finish it,” Mulholland said with a laugh. “Somehow, I always lose it. I don’t care. I don’t really think about it. I just want to get the win.”
Mulholland said the Snohomish team is starting to jell like it did in last season’s postseason run that saw the Panthers cap an undefeated regular season with a district championship.
Now, Snohomish is back in the district title game with a berth in the 4A state tournament also on the line.
“It reminds me of how we used to play last year and we’re kind of getting back into that same postseason groove,” Mulholland said. “Everyone’s come together really well and it’s been fun.”
Anton Soderqvist got the lone hit off Mulholland for the Timberwolves in the contest. It was the third time Snohomish has beat Jackson (14-9) this season, with the Timberwolves also defeating Snohomish 11-1 earlier in the year. Nicholson said Jackson will regroup as it prepares for a district loser-out game against Mount Vernon at 4 p.m. Thursday at Everett Memorial Stadium.
“It’s not like football where you get the crap kicked out of you and you can’t come back because you’re beat up and wounded,” Nicholson said. “You go work on some ground balls, you get loose and we’ll be back. We’re playing for our last game. We’ve got another game to go — at least one, and hopefully two — and get to state. All we’ve got to do is win two games and get to state. This is bad, but it isn’t the worst thing in the world.”
Mulholland and the Panthers look to clinch one of the district’s two state berths with a victory in Thursday’s district championship. The loser of the game plays the winner of Jackson-Mount Vernon at 10 a.m. Saturday morning for the district’s second and final state berth.
“We’ll put (senior pitcher) Luke Kuna out there at 7 o’clock,” Hammons said. “Luke has pitched well for us all year long. He’s looking forward to the challenge. We’re excited to play at Everett Memorial. We’re happy to be in this spot.”
“We’re so excited right now,” Mulholland said. “We can’t wait. We’re going to have a good day of practice (Wednesday) and we’re going to be ready.”
At Snohomish H.S.
WP: Jake Mulholland (5 IP, 9 K, 0 BB, 1 hit allowed). LP: Jeremy Martin. Individual highlights: Jackson—Anton Soderqvist (1-2); Snohomish—Kealen Martin (2-2, RBI, RS); Adam Ivelia (1-3, 3 RBI); Andrew Kane (1-3, 2 RBI). Records—Jackson 14-9 overall. Snohomish 16-6.
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