LAKE STEVENS – The race for No. 1 just got a lot more interesting.
Two days after enduring a blowout loss, the Lake Stevens High School baseball team recovered nicely Friday and defeated Snohomish 4-1 in the final game of a key Western Conference North Division series.
First-place Snohomish pounded the second-place Vikings 9-1 Wednesday, strengthening its grip on the top spot. But behind the masterful pitching of starter Darren Iseri and three hitters in the heart of the lineup who drove in all four runs, Lake Stevens (11-3 in division) responded with an excellent all-around performance and pulled within one game of Snohomish (12-2) with two contests to go.
Both teams are guaranteed spots in the Class 4A district tournament, but at stake is the division championship and the No. 1 seed, which generally offers more favorable matchups throughout districts.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Lake Stevens catcher Dane Gilbertson said of his team’s battle with Snohomish. “It’s pretty much our rival every year and usually both of us have pretty good ball clubs, so you never know who’s gonna come out on top.”
Next week Lake Stevens finishes the regular season with two games against Everett. Snohomish wraps up with two against Monroe.
“We’re really excited to be in the playoffs. Maybe later on down the road we’ll see (Snohomish) again,” said Gilbertson, who helped ignite Lake Stevens’ offense with three hits, including two doubles.
Gilbertson, the Vikings’ No. 3 hitter, combined with the Nos. 4 and 5 hitters, Paxton Paynter and Alex Bruun, to accumulate six hits and drive in four runs.
That was more than enough offense to support Iseri, who improved to 2-1 on the mound. Mixing in a wicked slider and demonstrating impressive control, the junior allowed three hits and one run in six innings, finishing with four strikeouts and two walks.
“Their pitcher just pitched awesome today. He pitched a ton of strikes and their defense played very well,” Snohomish coach Kim Hammons said. “Everything that we hit, we hit at ‘em.”
Snohomish, which had won 12 straight games, scored its only run in the third inning. Travis Cuykendall’s single up the middle drove in Nate Mullins, who reached on a leadoff base hit, to tie it at 1-1.
In the next half inning, Lake Stevens answered with two runs. Despite stranding 10 runners in the game, the Vikings converted enough opportunities to win. Reliever Joey Pulitano pitched a scoreless inning to earn his second save.
“They took advantage of our walks (one) and our errors (three),” Hammons said. “They got clutch hits. … They ended up just playing a near-perfect ballgame. They bounced back.”
Lake Stevens’ No. 9 hitter Travis Egbert (2-for-3) was one of three Vikings with two hits.
Snohomish tried to rally in the top of the sixth. Bryce Meinhold reached on an infield single and moved to second base on a wild pitch by Iseri. With two out, Panthers cleanup hitter Nick Hammons battled Iseri to a full count but struck out swinging at a slider, ending the threat.
“He’s been pitching really well lately,” Gilbertson, the Lake Stevens catcher, said of Iseri. “He’s locating really well and his slider is a pitch that’s making people have the most trouble.”
“We’ve kind of brought (Iseri) along slowly,” said Lake Stevens coach Rodger Anderson, “but he had a good summer … and I knew he was capable of throwing like that. I mean, that was pretty impressive.”
At Lake Stevens H.S.
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Hammons and Chandler. Iseri, J. Pulitano (7) and Gilbertson. WP-Iseri (2-1). LP-Hammons (4-1). S-J. Pulitano (2). 2B-Gilbertson (LS) 2, Paynter (LS). Records-Snohomish 12-2 in division, 15-3 overall. Lake Stevens 11-3, 14-4.
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