LYNNWOOD — Lynnwood head baseball coach Reggie Corns and the rest of the Royals gave senior third baseman Ryan Desimone the nickname “Clutch” for a reason.
Desimone lived up to the billing and smashed a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to propel Lynnwood to a 5-4 Western Conference South Division win over Mountlake Terrace in the last game of the regular season at Lynnwood High School.
The win gives the Royals the No. 1 seed heading into the 3A District 1 tournament and Mountlake Terrace earned the 4A No. 2 seed following Shorewood’s 7-0 win over Edmonds-Woodway Monday afternoon.
Lynnwood pounded out 13 base hits against Terrace pitching, but Desimone along with right-handed pitcher Jason Lotzer’s solid outing helped the Royals avenge a 10-9 loss to the Hawks on May 1.
“They’re one of the best hitting teams we’ve seen all year,” Mountlake Terrace head coach Andrew Watters said. “They’re a very dangerous team.”
After Lynnwood senior captain Karl Rodriguez hit an RBI single in the first inning, Desimone helped set up the offense with a leadoff triple to right-center field in the second inning. Michael Stanley knocked in Desimone with an RBI single and freshman Jordan Silva followed two batters later with an RBI single of his own to give the Royals a 3-1 edge.
Terrace battled back in the third inning on a Paul Clingan two-run double down the third base line to tie the score 3-3.
With the score knotted again at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Desimone stepped up, connected with a breaking ball left in the middle of the strike zone and drove a solo home run to deep center field.
“It’s expected out of him,” Lotzer said of Desimone’s game-changing swing.
Terrace reliever Kyle Barisic recorded four outs (three strikeouts) before yielding the winning home run.
“I was proud that we held them (Lynnwood) down,” Watter’s said of the single run yielded by his bullpen in three innings of relief. Watters continued to say that he thinks the one-run wins by each team in the two-game series is indicative of the league’s quality.
“I think it’s more of a commentary that both of our teams are very good,” Watters said.
Lotzer held the Hawks — who hit three home runs in the previous contest — to four runs on just three hits.
The senior pitched a complete game while striking out eight batters and walking just two.
“I think he’s really tenacious,” Corns said. “He was able to spot his curveball.”
Lotzer added that along with his curveball, he was able to hit the strike zone with his slider.
“More than Jason (Lotzer), it was what the guys behind him were doing,” Corns said of his team’s defensive support.
The Royals defense was strong, but one miscue almost cost Lynnwood the win.
In the top of the fifth inning, Lotzer retired the first two batters before plunking senior Ryan Sells on the back with a breaking ball. Sells then attempted to steal second base and catcher Tyler Smith’s throw sailed high allowing Sells to sprint to third. The centerfielder backing up the throw bobbled the ball and Sells raced home to tie the game.
Luckily for Lynnwood, “Clutch” was due up in its half of the inning.
At Lynnwood H.S.
Terrace0120100—432
Lynnwood121010x—5132
Brooks, Barisic (4), Woeck (6) and Clingan. Lotzer and Smith. WP—Lotzer. LP—Barisic. 2B—Clingan (MT). 3B—Desimone (L). HR—Desimone (L). Records—Mountlake Terrace 14-6 league, 12-6 overall. Lynnwood 13-7, 12-6.
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