Mavericks bring home fourth-place trophy

Published 11:32 am Thursday, May 29, 2008

SEATTLE

A little of the fight went out of Meadowdale.

Less than 24 hours after losing in the Class 3A state baseball semifinals for the second straight year, the Mavericks attempted to get refocused for their third-fourth place game against defending champion Issaquah.

But Meadowdale came out a little flat and struggled again to score runs as the Eagles prevailed 7-2 in the May 24 contest at Safeco Field.

Still, to come home with back-to-back fourth place trophies is quite an accomplishment and Meadowdale coach Bill Hummel let his players know that after the game.

“I told the kids thanks so much for the ride,” he said. “It’s been a great two years. How many teams in the state can say they’ve been here twice and played four games down at Safeco? Most of our rivals are putting their stuff away, so we have a lot to be proud of.”

A year ago, the underdog Mavericks were just excited to have the opportunity to play at Safeco Field, said junior Roger O’Neill.

“No one picked us to be here. We just had a fantastic ride,” he said. “This year it was expected (that Meadowdale would be here). The ride was just as great. We would have hoped to win a game here, but it still was a great time. We have nothing to hang our heads about.”

The Mavericks came in with the goal of improving on last year’s finish, but ran up into one of the top pitchers in the state in Kelso’s Trevor May, who helped his team to a 5-1 semifinal victory on May 23. Though the Mavericks tried to put that loss behind themselves, it was difficult.

“I could feel we came into (Saturday’s) game a little down because that was a big hit to our team,” said junior Chase Anselment. “We came in a little unfocused. I think that’s what ended up hurting us the most. We weren’t really focused. We were still thinking about the last game. We should have been moving on.”

Added Hummel, ” I just don’t think there was a lot of fight in us today. … The overall energy in our dugout just wasn’t there, which is understandable. It was very disappointing for us to play in this (third-fourth) place game.”

Issaquah jumped on Meadowdale in the second inning, scoring a pair of runs. Issaquah’s Russell Bair drew a leadoff walk. After Meadowdale starter Matt Gorman struck out Kyle Sutherland, Bair advanced to third base on Miles Perkins’ double to right field. Andy Salmeri then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Bair. Michael Dixon then followed with a single to left field to drive in Perkins.

Sutherland led off the fourth with a single to right field and was replaced by courtesy runner Justin Kay, who advanced to second on a throwing error by the catcher. Perkins then walked and Salmeri hit a double to left field to score Kay. Michael Dixon and Grant Gellatly then executed back-to-back suicide squeeze bunts to score Perkins and Salmeri to help Issaquah extend its lead to 5-0.

The Mavericks meanwhile were having trouble against Issaquah starter Tyler Vanderboegh, who was the winning pitcher in last year’s state championship game.

“It was a big difference in pitching styles,” O’Neill said. “Yesterday we faced a flame-thrower and today we faced a finesse pitcher. I think it took a few innings to adjust. Late we got our bats going a little bit but it was a little too late.”

Said Gorman, “Today the guy did the job.”

The Mavericks (16-11) finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth. Senior Teagan Dooley hit a grounder up the middle that eventually was tracked down by the second baseman, who did not attempt a throw. Sophomore Andrew Suh stroked a single to left field. Senior Jeff Askew then hit into a double play that allowed Dooley to advance to third. Dooley then scored on a single to left field by sophomore Taylor Brennan.

The Eagles responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Spencer Rogers hit a double to score Mario Sanelli, who was at first base after getting hit by a pitch. Rogers advanced to third on a fly ball to center field by Bair and then scored on another fly ball to center field by Sutherland.

Meadowdale closed out the scoring in the seventh when pinch hitter Jake Haight hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Dooley, who led off the inning with an infield single to short. Haight spent Friday at the Class 3A state doubles tennis tournament in Kennewick with partner Patrick Donnelly. The two were eliminated on the first day of tournament.

“We hit some balls hard early in the game,” Hummel said. “We had some pretty good plans, pretty good approaches at the plate and it just didn’t fall for us today.”

Vanderboegh only struck out two and allowed eight hits in 6 innings of work. Senior Alex deMarne closed out the game for the Eagles. Meadowdale stranded seven runners on base.

“You get to this stage and you’re going to see some terrific arms,” Hummel said. “You come down here you need to come away with more than three runs in two games if you’re going to get some wins.”

Meadowdale played a much better game in the field after committed four errors in the semifinals. The Mavericks only had two miscues.

“There’s just no simulating the speed of this field,” Hummel said. “It takes an adjustment.”

Meadowdale loses some key seniors, including Gorman, Dooley, Haight, outfielder Andy Lyon and first baseman Eric Seacrist. The Mavericks, however, should still be playoff contenders, especially with their returning pitchers, who include Chris Johnson, O’Neill and Anselment.

“We may not have the pitching depth that we had this year, but we’ll definitely have three key starters,” Anselment said. “We’ll make another run for it.”

The interest in the Mavericks’ baseball program has increased with the team’s success the last two years. Meadowdale is supported by a solid baseball community, said Hummel, noting the numerous Little League teams, various camps and summer select teams.

“It just all adds up to a healthy high school program,” he said. “Things continue to look better and better for us. I can’t wait until next year.”