MILL CREEK — Jackson starting pitcher Sam Brown was all warmed up in the bullpen Wednesday when the umpires called the game with Edmonds-Woodway before it began and his coach ordered him off the field.
That didn’t sit well with the junior left-hander, who complained it was barely raining.
“I felt really good yesterday and I was fired up to pitch,” Brown said. “I don’t like getting going and getting shut down. It’s one of my pet peeves, I guess.”
Brown rekindled his fire Thursday, retaking the mound in the make-up and taking out his frustration from the day before on the Warriors. He tossed five innings of two-hit ball with four strikeouts, two walks and a lone earned run in a matchup of teams currently ranked No. 1 (Jackson) and No. 3 (E-W) in the state coaches poll.
The Timberwolves won 5-3, clinching the Wesco South crown and sweeping the four-game season series between the two teams.
E-W’s Austin Jones, batting .581 entering the game, went 0-for-3 with an intentional walk. He twice sent Brown offerings to the wall but right at Jackson outfielders.
“They’ve got a lot of good hitters especially him he’s a great hitter,” Brown said. “I was just glad to contain them somewhat.”
The Warriors’ 1-through-4 hitters batted a combined 0-for-12 against Brown and Jason Todd, who allowed two runs in two innings of relief.
Ryan Budnick took his second loss of the season, going the distance. The junior, like the rest of his team (8-4 league, 12-4 overall), has only lost to Jackson (13-1, 14-2) this season.
“He started off shaky but he finished strong,” Warriors coach Dan Somoza said of Budnick.
Budnick got bailed out by a double play in the first after issuing back-to-back walks, but he wasn’t as lucky in the second when Jackson got all the runs it would need.
Anthony Flatt doubled and went to third on a wild pitch. John Wilde walked and Robert Brencic grounded to second but drove in Flatt. Jaris Beasley walked and Wilde scored on a passed ball, which brought up Kyle Olson, hitting around .500 entering the game.
Olson batted 3-for-3 on the day with a pair of doubles, a walk, a steal, an RBI and a run scored. He drove in Beasley with his first double and then Isaac Kim’s bloop single scored Olson, which ended up as the winning run.
Twice Olson drove the ball to the wall on the game, barreling up a pair of Budnick pitches, but they didn’t quite make it out of the park. He blamed a new bat for no round-trippers.
“I don’t think it’s broken in yet, so it’s still not to its potential,” the senior said with a smile.
Edmonds-Woodway got a home run in the sixth off Todd when Ben Roquet followed a Patrick Bernard bloop single with a deep blast to left field that made the score 5-3. But two straight outs ended the inning.
The Warriors got another chance in the top of the seventh after Derek Callahan walked and stole second with two outs. Jones stepped to the plate representing the tying run, but got under a Todd pitch and popped to shallow right to end the game.
“He’s our leader, our captain,” Somoza said of Jones. “That’s the right guy we wanted up there. It just didn’t pan out for us today.”
Jackson coach Kirk Nicholson didn’t want to read too much into the victory.
“There’s no way we should have swept them,” he said of the season series. “They played good enough both the last two days that they should have beat us probably both of them.
“We were incredibly fortunate today. They probably got a little unlucky. Don’t get me wrong I’m always going to take it. I’m not going to give it back and let them swing again.”
After the game Olson complimented the Warriors calling them the best team he has faced this season by far, but he also felt the Timberwolves have earned their spot atop the state.
I think we’re the best team all around. We have pitching we have defense we have offense all the way through the order. I think we are the best team in the state yeah.
“I think we’re the best team all around,” the catcher/first baseman said. “We have pitching. We have defense. We have offense all the way through the order. I think we are the best team in the state, yeah.”
Nicholson went a step further with his praise of the Warriors.
“They are the same team we are,” he said.
Because Jackson clinched the title, the team can coast through the final week of the season in preparation of the league playoffs which begin a week from Saturday. The Warriors now turn to securing second place in the South and home field during the playoffs.
At Jackson H.S.
Edmonds-Woodway 000 012 0–3 4 1
Jackson 040 010 x–5 7 2
Ryan Budnick and Tate Budnick. Sam Brown, Jason Todd (6) and Anthony Flatt WP–Brown. LP–Budnick. 2B–Olson (J) 2, Flatt (J) 1, T. Budnick (E) 1, Rheinford (E) 1 HR–Roquet (E) 1. Records–Edmonds-Woodway 8-4 league, 12-4 overall. Jackson 13-1, 16-2.
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