SNOHOMISH — The thought seemed so simple at the time.
Ben Dmochowsky grew up playing the corner infield positions and pitching, but once he got to high school he decided to give another position a shot.
“Well I ended up behind the plate because I’m big,” Dmochowsky said. “Most of it was I want to go forward in my career, and I’m a pretty decent hitter. But I used to play third base and there’s a bunch of good hitters in that category. Catchers are more known for their defense. I’m almost the opposite — I’m known for my offense and not my catching.
“I just kind of thought, ‘I’m big, I’ve got a strong arm, I can block a ball, I’ll learn how to catch.’”
Dmochowsky did just that. A four-year varsity starter for Snohomish, Dmochowsky has done a little bit of everything in his Panthers career. He was a first-team, all-league designated hitter his freshman and sophomore year, and notched an all-league catcher award last season.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing behind the plate for Dmochowsky when he started catching his freshman year, but he continued to work at it.
“I was not very good, let me tell you that,” he said. “I dropped a lot of baseballs. Almost as many as I could catch.”
The senior also plays third base and pitches, going 2-0 this season with a save. Dmochowsky has had to make the transition from catcher to pitcher at the mound, a situation he doesn’t love.
“I’ve done that before. I don’t like that,” Dmochowsky said with a laugh. “But it’s whatever it takes to help the team win.”
Snohomish head coach Kim Hammons said Dmochowsky’s versatility is invaluable to the Panthers. Hammons said “he has the build for a catcher,” and listed Dmochowsky at 5 feet, 10 inches and 220 pounds.
In one recent week, Dmochowsky pitched seven innings in a game against Lake Stevens, was the designated hitter in a contest against Mount Vernon and caught the third game of the week.
“You don’t see a lot of guys (pitch and catch),” Hammons said. “The thing is we’ve tried to work pitching in for him on a Friday or kept him as a reliever early in the week so we’re not taxing his arm too much. But at the same time, he’s up for the task. He wants to pitch, he wants to go out there, he wants to be a bulldog.”
Dmochowsky’s other big contribution comes at the plate. The senior is such a strong hitter that Hammons just wants to make sure he’s in the lineup.
“Ben’s been a guy that just flat out hits,” Hammons said. “He just hits. He comes in, clutches up, he’ll do whatever it takes to get a base hit. He’s got a very good approach. He’s got a tough, mental attitude that it takes to be a tough hitter.”
This season, Dmochowsky is batting .367 with 24 RBI and the Panthers’ lone home run of the season. The senior has walked eight times and struck out just three times all year, helping Snohomish to a perfect 20-0 mark.
As far as Hammons knows, that’s a first for the Panthers.
“Early in the year, when we didn’t know a lot about our team, it just seemed like Ben was always coming up with a guy on second or the bases loaded and he’d drill a single or a double,” Hammons said. “Every time he came up he got an RBI and that’s what enabled us to jump ahead and our pitching and defense took over from there.”
“Looking at this year’s team, his intensity — you can tell he’s the heart and soul of the team,” said Lake Stevens head coach Rodger Anderson. “He’s a winner. That attitude is contagious and that’s why they’re undefeated.”
Anderson’s Vikings have tested Dmochowsky both on the mound and behind the plate, usually to no avail.
“I thought we could run on him and, sure enough, the first time we try he throws a rocket and throws us out,” Anderson said. “On the mound, you walk away thinking ‘We should be able to hit this guy’ and you can’t.”
Despite having Snohomish’s only home run this season, Dmochowsky said he doesn’t try to do too much at the plate.
“To me, hitting is about smarts,” said Dmochowsky, who will play at Everett Community College next season. “It’s about knowing yourself. It’s about knowing the pitcher. A lot of these guys have bought into that, where they don’t need to hit home runs or doubles. It’s just putting the ball in play.”
The senior is thoroughly enjoying his final year at Snohomish. He said the team is incredibly close and gets after each other if they sense someone is slacking.
Even if that someone is Dmochowsky.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s me — a sophomore will jump on me if I’m slacking,” Dmochowsky said. “We want to be the best and we want to go out there and win. We know that there’s teams more talented than us but that doesn’t mean we can’t beat them.”
The Panthers, who are ranked No. 1 in 4A by WashingtonBaseballPoll.com, have their eyes on the state tournament. But Snohomish isn’t overlooking districts after an incredibly competitive season that saw four teams in the league finish with 7-7 league records.
And while the Panthers finished 20-0, seven of those wins came by two runs or less.
“Yeah, state is what we look towards but it’s got to start with districts,” Dmochowsky said. “Then it’s state.”
Dmochowsky’s lasting mark won’t just be in the Panthers’ record books. The senior convinced Hammons, who’s been the head coach of Snohomish since 1992, to upgrade the Panthers’ uniforms.
“I’m so old school it’s unbelievable,” Hammons said. “He wanted to change the uniform pants and get new black jerseys for special occasions. He was instrumental in changing from the old school to the new school.”
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