Terrace keeps share of first place
Published 11:45 pm Wednesday, April 16, 2008
MILL CREEK — Shortstop Garrett Totten’s wild Wednesday can be divided into two distinct parts: Power at the plate and frustration in the field.
Totten’s impressive hitting performance for the Mountlake Terrace High School baseball team included a two-run home run and a two-run double. It was tempered by his rough defensive outing, which included two errors and a few other missed opportunities.
But when the final out was recorded, Totten and the victorious Hawks were able to put mistakes behind them and celebrate a spirit-boosting effort.
Totten smashed a go-ahead, two-run double and Mountlake Terrace defeated the Jackson Timberwolves 9-7 in eight innings in a Western Conference South Division game. It completed a two-game series between the division contenders. Terrace, Jackson and Meadowdale are tied for first place with league records of 8-2.
“Winning the game in the last inning was huge. It brought our confidence back together and the team feels really good right now,” said Totten, a Texas Tech University baseball recruit.
After losing 11-4 to Jackson on Tuesday, Terrace got a strong pitching performance from starter Kyle Barisic (3-0), tallied 11 hits and never fell behind in the clash.
Jackson, aided by Totten’s fielding error, scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score at 4-4 and force an extra inning. But Terrace erupted for five runs on five hits in the eighth and stifled Jackson’s last-chance rally just in time.
Totten, who lined a two-run homer over the left-field fence in the first inning, said he got through the up-and-down day by staying positive.
“You’ve got to keep playing through it and just have fun. You can’t just give up and be angry at yourself,” he said.
That focused temperament seemed to lift the entire Terrace team, which on Friday starts a big two-game series against Meadowdale.
“I’m very proud of my guys for persevering today because there was a lot of tough moments in that game,” Terrace coach Andrew Watters said. “But that top of the eighth inning was just huge for the guys to step up and play good baseball.”
Terrace’s offensive leaders were Totten, Jacob Mann, Paul Clingan, Jaykob Sells and Karsten Strieby. They all had two hits apiece.
Danny Oh (2-1) took the pitching loss in relief. He was 2-for-5 with two doubles and one run batted in for Jackson, which hadn’t lost a division game since March 27 (4-2 against Meadowdale). Mike Wishko and Kennedy Kinkade (one double) both had two hits and scored twice for Jackson.
Terrace is an impressive, balanced team, said Jackson coach Kirk Nicholson: “They’re tough to get out. Every batter has a clue what they’re doing and (Watters) does a fabulous job coaching them.”
The defeat didn’t bother Nicholson much. He said he liked the way his squad rallied from deficits of 3-0, 4-1 and 9-4.
From an entertainment perspective, Wednesday’s game was one to remember.
Said Nicholson: “As far as baseball games go, that was pretty fun to watch if you’re a high school baseball fan.”
At Jackson H.S.
Mountlake Terrace30100005— 9113
Jackson10002013—7100
Barisic, Woeck (8) and Clingan. Kellington, McGee (5), Oh (6), Kinkade (8) and Morse. WP-Barisic (3-0). LP-Oh (2-1). S-Woeck. 2B-Clingan (MT) 1, Totten (MT) 1, Shafer (MT) 1, Oh (J) 2, Kinkade (J) 1. HR-Totten (MT) 1. Records-Mountlake Terrace 8-2 in division, 9-5 overall. Jackson 8-2, 11-2.
Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
