Shorewood tops Terrace
Published 9:32 pm Tuesday, April 19, 2011
MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — For four innings it was a scoreless pitching duel, very much befitting a showdown between two of the top contenders in the Western Conference 3A baseball race.
After that, Shorewood showed why it’s still the Wesco 3A team to beat.
The Thunderbirds exploded for 11 runs over the final three innings to overwhelm host Mountlake Terrace 11-1 on Tuesday and improve their league record to 7-0. Mountlake Terrace, which began the day tied with Oak Harbor for second place in the conference, slipped to 5-4 and third place.
Shorewood sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth inning, turning four hits, two walks and a pivotal everybody-is-safe fielder’s choice into five runs. That by itself was enough to break the game open, but the T-birds tacked on three runs in each of the last two innings to turn the contest into a rout.
“The bats kind of came along a little late, but that’s all right,” said T-birds coach Wyatt Tonkin. “Because when they came along, they came along good.”
Shorewood starting pitcher Blake Snell, meanwhile, did his part by checking the Hawks on three hits while striking out 13 in six shutout innings. The lanky left-hander ended five of his six innings with a strikeout, and two of them stranded a Mountlake Terrace runner at third base when the game was still scoreless.
Snell had a chance to close every inning with a strikeout, but in the fifth a nasty curveball on a two-out strikeout pitch bounced away from catcher Christian Heideger and the runner reached first base.
“The good Lord has blessed him with a great arm,” Tonkin said of Snell. “He covers up a lot of mistakes because he can punch his way out of an inning.
“When you look at him, he’s the type of kid that always has a smile on his face. But when he gets on the mound, he’s a tiger. He’s a ferocious competitor.”
The T-birds came to bat in the fifth inning looking to break the scoreless tie. Paul Stotts got things started, lashing the first pitch into right field for a double. Jeremy Edwards reached first on a fielder’s choice with Stotts holding at second, and after both runners advanced on a wild pitch Trevor Mitsui was walked intentionally.
Heideger and Snell followed with consecutive sacrifice flies for two runs, but the T-birds weren’t done. Duncan Hendrickson singled to center and Connor McKeever followed with a double into the left field corner, scoring two more. Ben Andrews then dropped a soft single into center, scoring McKeever.
Hendrickson’s two-RBI double highlighted the sixth inning and Mitsui’s long double off the fence in right-center field was the big blow in the seventh.
Mitsui, batting leadoff, reached base in all five plate appearances with a double, single and three walks, two intentional, while scoring three runs. Edwards was 2-for-4 with three runs. McKeever was 2-for-3 with a double, stolen base and three RBI.
“Hitting is contagious,” Tonkin said. “If we can string a few hits together, it kind of snowballs a little bit. And we’ve got some good hitters in our lineup.”
The T-birds are 11-2 this season, largely because “we’re staying focused,” he added. “That was my biggest worry coming into the season. Can we stay focused for 20 games? Because it’s a long season and it’s a tough league. But the kids are playing pretty well.”
Mountlake Terrace started the day hoping to tighten the Wesco 3A standings, but instead fell one game further behind the T-birds. Another game between the teams is scheduled for this afternoon, this time on Shorewood’s home field.
Mountlake Terrace starter Jalen Pahinui held the T-birds scoreless for four innings, “and I was really proud of (him),” Hawks coach Andrew Watters said. “And we did hang in there (for four innings), but then they grabbed the momentum.
“(Shorewood) is just a good team,” he added. “They’re where they belong in the standings.”
At Mountlake Terrace H.S.
Shorewood 000 053 3–11 12 1
Mountlake Terrace 000 000 1– 1 4 2
Blake Snell, Conner McKeeve (7) and Christian Heideger. Jalen Pahinui, Dominic DeMiero (5), Henry Haveman (6), Alec Anderson (7) and Keegan Volpone. WP–Snell. LP–Pahinui. 2B–Trevor Mitsui (S), Heideger (S), Hendrickson (S), McKeeve (S), Hall (MT). Records–Shorewood 7-0 league, 11-2 overall. Mountlake Terrace 5-4, 8-6.
