Kamiak bags Wesco South title
Published 12:01 am Saturday, May 1, 2010
MUKILTEO — Marshal Pennock’s durable throwing arm launched 115 pitches on Friday, but early on it looked like the right-hander might not last beyond the first inning.
Despite giving up five runs on four hits and three errors in an uncharacteristically sloppy first inning, the Kamiak High School baseball team roared back and routed the Glacier Peak Grizzlies 13-6 in a Western Conference South Division battle at Geiger Field.
Pennock, one of 11 Kamiak seniors, settled down and pitched a complete-game, six-hitter, helping the Knights reach two huge achievements in the seniors’ final regular-season home game. With the win, Kamiak clinched the South No. 1 seed for the upcoming 4A District 1 tournament and the division championship, the program’s first since 2003.
“The season kind of starts right now for us. We’re on a good run right now so we’re just going to try to keep playing (well) and take it to another level,” said senior left fielder Jake Sortor, who had three hits and a season-high four runs batted in for Kamiak. Sortor was one of numerous hitting stars for Kamiak (14-3 South, 16-3 overall), which increased its winning streak to nine.
Since it returned the bulk of its 2009 team that reached the state tournament, Kamiak had high hopes this spring. There were some bumps early on, including a 10-run mercy-rule defeat against Shorewood in late March, but now the Knights are rolling.
“This year everybody expected us to win,” 17th-year Kamiak head coach Steve Merkley said. “We’ve won nine in a row, so we jelled when we had to jell.”
Sortor, junior Seth Heck (three RBI, two hits), senior Jared Houghtaling (two RBI) and senior Eric Erlandsen (two RBI) all drove in at least two runs for Kamiak, which completes its division schedule Monday at 3A Glacier Peak (9-8, 10-9). As the South’s top seed for district, Kamiak will play host to either the South No. 4 seed or the North No. 5 seed on May 8.
Kamiak swept its season series (and thus has a tiebreaker) against Jackson, the only South team with a chance to tie Kamiak for first in the division going into Jackson’s game against Shorecrest Friday night in Everett.
Meanwhile, Glacier Peak is guaranteed a spot in the 3A district tournament. Junior Dane Larsen had two RBI and senior Lance Foster tallied two hits for the Grizzlies of Snohomish, who — in just their second season and first with seniors — have a chance to earn the 3A Wesco No. 1 seed. Meadowdale (8-9 South) beat Mariner 12-4 on Friday and is currently in second place among 3A Wesco teams with one game to go.
In the first inning, Glacier Peak roughed up Pennock (2-2). All nine Grizzlies hitters went to the plate and five scored. Three errors added to Pennock’s early misery.
But Kamiak answered, scoring two runs in the first and a whopping eight runs in the second. The latter eruption included Sortor’s two-run bloop single that gave Kamiak a 6-5 lead.
“It’s great,” Pennock said of his team’s potent, balanced offense. “You know you can go out there and do your job (and) they have your back.”
After the first inning, Pennock located his curveball better and tossed four straight scoreless innings. He finished with an up-and-down stat line — six strikeouts, four walks, three hit batsmen and 115 pitches (five less than his season high) in seven innings — but the key was he bounced back and finished strong.
“It was senior night,” said Pennock, “and I just wanted to go out there and finish it. It feels good to know that we’re (division) champs.”
At Kamiak H.S.
Glacier Peak5000010— 663
Kamiak280102x—13123
Crane, Ristoff (2), Stevie (5) and Tuba. Pennock and Houghtaling. WP-Pennock (2-2). LP-Crane. 2B-Caneza (GP). Records-Glacier Peak 9-8 in division, 10-9 overall. Kamiak 14-3, 16-3.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
