EVERETT — The Monroe High School baseball team shook off a cold start at the plate and rallied past Stanwood at Funko Field on Saturday, claiming the last available state berth in the Class 3A District 1 tournament bracket.
Following an 11-2 loss to Ferndale on Thursday, the No. 4 Bearcats (19-6) fell behind 2-0 in the first inning in a winner-to-state, loser-out challenge against the 10-seeded Spartans (13-14), who took a 1-0 loss to Shorewood in the previous round.
An RBI double from Stanwood senior Treyton Mascarenas, followed by a single from Ryan Cheeseman which plated Mascarenas, spelled troubled early on for Monroe.
However, the Bearcats defense hung tough the rest of the way, blanking Stanwood from the second inning on to secure the 6-2 victory.
“Slow start, for sure,” Monroe coach Ben Andrews said. “Carter (Sprague) did a good job for us controlling the zone, he got back to throwing his stuff. I told the guys at the start of the game, no matter where we are, this game doesn’t define them. So, you can just go out, play loose and come up with the dub, and we did just that.”
Monroe had three errors on the defensive side in the first, but largely cleaned things up onward. Sprague, a senior right-hander, allowed seven hits and struck out seven over six innings as a starter.
The Bearcats got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, as junior infielder Bryce Niemi drew a walk that scored senior Rylan Hampton to draw within a run. Later in the frame, senior Kody Edelbrock (1-for-3) delivered a two-RBI single with two outs, pushing the Bearcats in front 3-2.
“We had to make a few adjustments early,” Andrews said. “But, mostly, its the same thing for us. .. Just sticking to your game plan, trusting your hands and doing what we’ve trained all year to do.”
Monroe players begin to celebrate a victory over Stanwood in a winner-to-state Class 3A District 1 tournament consolation game Saturday at Funko Field in Everett. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Stanwood left three runners on base before closing the fourth and sixth empty-handed. To add to the lead, senior Parker Mann singled in the fifth to score a run. Then, Cooper Barrow took a sac fly, scoring Hampton as Monroe went ahead 5-2.
After tacking on another run in the sixth, the Bearcats closed it out in the seventh behind senior reliever Connor Campbell.
“Each game at state is gonna be just like this one,” Andrews said. “Even closer, we trust our staff to throw strikes and be competitive. We had some new guys filling in today (too), so we have trust in a lot of guys right now. Whoever we put out there is gonna do what they have to do.”
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