SEATTLE — Apparently the magnitude of the game and the venue affected both teams in Friday’s Class 3A baseball state semifinal at Safeco Field.
There were errors, wild pitches, passed balls and unearned runs aplenty for both Meadowdale and Kelso, but the Hilanders — thanks in large part to Washington-bound right-hander Trevor May — did better damage control and escaped with a sloppy 5-1 victory, ending Meadowdale’s hopes of a first state title since 1991.
Meadowdale committed four errors, had two passed balls and three wild pitches and did not give up an earned run. Kelso was only a little better with three errors and one passed ball. The only run allowed by May was also unearned.
“We talked about not being jittery because we’d been here before, but I think realistically we were all a little nervous playing on the big stage like this,” said Meadowdale pitcher Chris Johnson, who allowed seven hits and no earned runs in seven innings.
The difference in the game was Kelso’s four-run third inning. Meadowdale had taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a suicide squeeze bunt by Jeff Askew, who ended up beating the throw for a single. Roger O’Neill, who had walked two batters earlier and moved to third on an error, scored the Mavs’ only run of the game.
That lead disappeared quickly, however, as the Hilanders answered with four unearned runs in a third inning that featured two errors, two passed balls and a wild pitch.
With two on and one out in the bottom of the inning, Meadowdale ran itself out of a scoring threat when the runner on first tried to steal, but the runner on second wasn’t running.
“That was very out of character for us,” said Meadowdale coach Bill Hummel. “We have really played solid baseball towards the end of the season and all through the postseason. … It just kind of goes to show you that in high school baseball that inning can sneak up and get you at any time. We had a good week of practice, the kids were solid, but it just didn’t go our way.”
May, considered to be one of the top pro prospects in the state, struggled with his control in the early innings, but was, as he called it, “effectively wild.”
He gave up only three hits and finished the game with 12 strikeouts and five walks, but all five of those walks came in the first four innings before he settled down.
“I can compare it to my first outing this year,” said May, who came into the game with a 1.15 ERA and improved to 11-1 with the win. “I went out and it was the first time any scouts have been at my games and I looked over and guns flew up and I was like, ‘Oh crap’ and throwing the ball all over the place. Today was the same thing. … But after a while it was like, ‘Hey, I’m just playing baseball, I’m on another field and it’s fun.’ I started having fun and it worked out.”
Hummel was asked how his team prepared for May, who throws in the low to mid 90s.
“We got one of our machines out and we cranked it up as fast as we could,” he said. “We felt we were well prepared for him. He’s just really good.”
Johnson, who fell to 5-1 with the loss, was saddled with another unearned run in the fifth inning when Kelso’s Nate Nyman, who had reached on an error, eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Askew, who had the Mavericks’ only RBI, finished 2-for-3.
Meadowdale (16-10) plays Issaquah (16-9), a 4-1 loser to Kennewick (18-7) in the other semifinal, at 10 a.m. today for third and fourth places.
Kelso (25-1) will shoot for its first state title since 1995 when it plays Kennewick, which has never won a state championship, at 4 p.m.
At Safeco Field
Kelso0040100—573
Meadowdale0100000—134
Trevor May and Cody O’Neill; Chris Johnson and Chase Anselment. WP—May (11-1). LP—Johnson (5-1). 2B—Nate Nyman (K). Records—Kelso 25-1, Meadowdale 16-10.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
