TACOMA — Jackson Timberwolves baseball coach Kirk Nicholson had a simple explanation for what happened to his team in Saturday night’s 3-2 loss to Bothell in the 4A state championship game.
“It’s just baseball,” Nicholson said.
Nicholson was taking it well, considering minute
s earlier his team was just three outs from a state championship. But as the Timberwolves learned, closing a team out is never easy.
With the pressure on in the top of the seventh inning, the Cougars seemed as cool as ever. The inning’s leadoff batter Brad Monson reached base when the umpire called Jackson’s Kyle Olson for catcher’s interference. The next batter Jon Mercer reached base on an error by pitcher Sam Brown. That brought up Kevin McShane, who wouldn’t get a hit but his at-bat set the tone for the rest of the inning.
McShane ran the count full on the first five pitches and then fouled off six consecutive pitches before finally walking to load the bases. At that point, Nicholson decided it was time to make a change, bringing in freshman Jason Todd in relief of Brown.
“He gave everything he could give, and he was done at the end. I mean I go out there and he can hardly breathe and he still said he could go. That’s my job to say ‘No you can’t,’” Nicholson said of Brown.
Brown pitched 62⁄3 innings and struck out seven Cougar batters.
The first batter Todd faced was Bothell catcher Samuel Lee. Lee flied out to left-fielder Andrew Lambert, but Monson tagged up and tried to score. The throw home got to Olson in plenty of time and it looked like Monson would be out by at least four steps. But instead of a double-play, and the Timberwolves being one out from a state championship, the ball came loose as Olson tried to tag out Monson. That tied the score 1-1.
“He went to make the tag and I think the foot kicked it out,” Nicholson said. “It was a baseball play, just a baseball play.”
The go-ahead run came from the next batter, Brian McAfee, who singled to right field to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead. The Cougars would add one more run before the top of the seventh inning ended.
It seemed like an inopportune time to have a bad inning, but according to Nicholson any time is a bad time.
“It’s just baseball stuff, It’s just like any inning. I don’t know what the difference between seventh and first would be, if we did the thing in the first inning it would be just as bad,” Nicholson said.
Jackson battled in the bottom of the seventh. The first two batters grounded out, which brought up Olson, who hit a double off the right-field wall. It was the game’s first extra-base hit. The next batter, Issac Kim provided the second. He doubled to left field to bring home Olson and cut the deficit to 3-2.
But the rally was foiled when Brown popped out to center field.
“There is no words for it. When you see that ball drop into your buddies’ mitt, I mean, just speechless,” said Bothell pitcher Henry Baillargeon, who scattered six hits in a complete game. “I had about four good seconds of celebration by myself and then I got laid out by my second baseman.”
The loss didn’t Nicholson’s perception of his team.
“I think we are a great team and I think we played great,” Nicholson said. “I’ve got no problem with my kids and how we played. I think we did a great job and we played a great team , they beat us and they beat us legitimately, so I got no problem. It’s just baseball, just another day at the yard, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
At Cheney Stadium, Tacoma
Bothell 000 000 3 — 3 6 3
Jackson 001 000 1 — 2 6 3
Brown, Todd (7) and Olson. Baillargeon and Lee. WP-Baillargeon. LP-Brown. 2B- Olson (J), Kim (J). Records—Bothell 23-4, Jackson 24-3.
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