Prep baseball: Kamiak 8, Mariner 4

Published 9:40 pm Saturday, April 2, 2011

EVERETT — Kamiak’s Alex Schmidt belted a two-out, grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday to win a Wesco South baseball game against Mariner.

Schmidt finished 2-for-3 with five RBI for the Knights, who were the home team although the game was played at Mariner High School.

Kamiak’s seventh inning began with a Luke McDonough single, a walk and then a wild pitch from Mariner pitcher Jamie Umbinetti that put runners at first and third. Kamiak’s Seth Heck was intentionally walked to get to Schmidt, who responded with a blast down the right-field line.

“The ball was only about two feet inside the foul pole,” Kamiak head coach Steve Merkley said. “Schmidt leads our team in RBI this year so he’s been doing good.”

The victory raised Kamiak’s league record to 2-2. In the Wesco South, the Knights trail only Edmonds-Woodway and Jackson, both ranked in the top 10 in the state.

“This win keeps us in the race. We’re not out of contact,” Merkley said.

Before the seventh, the game was tight throughout. Mariner’s Daylen Degamo hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, his second home run in two games against Kamiak this year. Mariner finished with five hits in the game.

Said Merkley, “Mariner is a good team, they can hit the ball. They were competitive last year, and they’re really competitive this year,”

At Mariner H.S.

Mariner 101 200 0–4 5 0

Kamiak 200 200 4–8 8 1

Davidson and Schmidt. Umbinetti and Degamo. WP–Davidson (2-1). LP–Umbinetti (1-1). 2B–Bettencourt (K) 1, Heck (K) 1, Black (K) 1, Coles (M) 1, Garneau (M) 1, Parra (M) 1. HR–Schmidt (K) 1, Degamo (M) 1. Records–Mariner 0-2 league, 3-2 overall. Kamiak 2-2 league, 6-2 overall.