Glacier Peak hangs on to beat Lynnwood 3-2
Published 7:51 pm Wednesday, April 13, 2016
BOTHELL — Last year, the Glacier Peak baseball team got off to a 6-2 start in the Wesco 3A South before losing eight of their final 10 league games and missing the playoffs.
This year, the Grizzlies got off to that same 6-2 start in league before losing their next two games. The similarities between last year and this year caused head coach Bob Blair to have a talk with his team about what direction it wanted the season to go.
After Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Lynnwood, which came into the game tied for first with Shorewood, it seems pretty clear the Grizzlies are focused on continuing their winning ways and making it to the postseason.
“We were definitely sliding in the wrong direction,” Blair said. “Where we were going into today was exactly where we were last year and we had talked about are we going to follow the same path as last year and miss the playoffs or are we going to turn it around and play to our potential. It was good to see them win a close game.”
Glacier Peak stopped its two-game skid thanks in large part to senior pitcher Sam Wyatt. Wyatt pitched a complete game, giving up four hits and two runs. After Glacier Peak scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to open the scoring, Wyatt gave up two in the bottom of the fifth, but he pitched through the adversity and improved his record to 4-0 this season.
“He’s been our best pitcher all year,” Blair said. “He’s been the most consistent. He’s gone the longest. Every game he’s gone out there. He’s just been our workhorse all season.”
Wyatt was matched in the first four innings by Lynnwood starter Brice Foster, but the Grizzlies’ bats came alive in the top of the fifth. Ethan Smith started the inning with a bunt single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Colton Bunt flied out the center to get Foster within one out of getting out of the inning, but that out never came. Ryan Ober reached base on a throwing error by the shortstop, allowing Smith to score. Iain Black and Geoff Rogers followed with back-to-back RBI doubles to give the Grizzlies a 3-0 lead.
“(Our hitters) had seen (Foster) a couple of times and they had gotten their timing down,” Blair said. “He’s a good pitcher. He was hitting his spots and throwing well.”
The Royals answered back in the top of the sixth inning with an RBI single by Chase Hacker, cutting the Grizzlies’ lead to 3-1. Two batters later, the game was delayed by a scary moment as Lynnwood’s Jared Whitman was hit in the head with a pitch with the bases loaded. Whitman remained on the field for several minutes before finally being helped off the field by a trainer for the Royals.
“He’s a great kid,” Blair said. “Not that you want it to happen to any kid, but when it happens to a great kid like that, it hurts that much more. He’s been a great player in this league. I know a lot of my guys play summer ball with him and he’s a great teammate. I’m sure for the Lynnwood guys he’s a great teammate.”
Lynnwood head coach Fraser Dizard said Whitman suffered a cut to his face and might have broken his nose and suffered a concussion.
“It was a tough play and a scary moment,” Dizard said. “I don’t know how much worse it could have been. I guess he could’ve broken all of the bones in his face, but he’s all right and he walked out of here, so that’s good news.”
Whitman being hit by the pitch forced in a run to cut the deficit to one, but Wyatt got out of the inning and pitched a perfect seventh to close out the game.
At Lynnwood H.S.
WP: Sam Wyatt (4-0; 7 IP, 4 H, 4 K). LP: Brice Foster (4.2 IP, 3 R, 0 ER, 8 H). Individual highlights: Glacier Peak—Iain Black (2-4, 2B, RBI), Ethan Smith (3-4, R), Geoff Rogers (2B, RBI); Lynnwood—Chase Hacker (2.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 K; 1-4, RBI), Nick Holmes (1-3). Records—Glacier Peak 7-4 league, 8-4 overall. Lynnwood 6-2, 7-3.
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
