MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Oak Harbor pitcher Josh Evans left the mound after the ninth inning with a pained expression, the result of a vicious line drive that struck him flush in the forearm of his pitching arm.
Evans left the mound one inning later with a look of triumph, having shrugged off a v
ery sore lump on his right arm to close out Oak Harbor’s 4-3 10-inning victory over Mountlake Terrace in a showdown of unbeaten Western Conference 3A baseball teams Tuesday.
The Wildcats, who improved to 3-0 in Wesco and 7-1 overall, had several heroes this day, but no one more so than Evans, a lanky senior who shut out Mountlake Terrace over the final 41/3 innings, including a game-ending strikeout with the potential tying run at third base.
“That was a great performance by Josh,” confirmed Oak Harbor coach Tyson Van Dam.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the second extra inning, Hawks shortstop Josh Fitch lashed a sharp line drive right at Evans, who had virtually no time to react. The ball smashed against his pitching arm and bounced away, though Evans, in obvious pain, was able to retrieve the ball and throw out Fitch for the final out.
Back in the dugout, a concerned Van Dam quickly checked over his wounded pitcher.
“I pulled him aside to make sure his arm wasn’t busted and to make sure he had feeling,” Van Dam said. “He had a pretty good knot (on his arm), but he wouldn’t let me pull him. He said, ‘I’m not coming out.’ And his demeanor showed that he wanted to be out there.”
Between innings Evans did some throwing in the bullpen, which happened to coincide with an Oak Harbor rally that combined three straight singles for the go-ahead run.
And in the bottom of the 10th, Evans headed back to the mound.
“Once he told me he was good to go out there and I saw him throw a little bit, it was his (game) to lose or his to win.” Van Dam said.
Evans walked leadoff hitter Tayler Landas-Edin, who then stole second and, one out later, moved to third on a long flyout to right field. But with the tying run 90 feet away, Evans got a called third strike on the final hitter to end the game.
To date this season the Wildcats “have pitched real strong and our top five hitters are usually pretty solid every game,” Van Dam said. “So I’m pretty happy with (the start of the season). And this was a good test for us. Mountlake Terrace is a team you’re going to have to beat to get anywhere at districts.”
The Wildcats totaled 14 hits with five for extra bases, including a long home run to left field by shortstop Gabe Clark in the fourth inning.
“He hit that ball pretty well,” Van Dam said. “He’s usually more of (an outfield) gap to gap guy, but he does have the potential to hit for power and he hits the fastball pretty well. That pitch was middle-in and that’s how he got around on it.”
Mountlake Terrace, meanwhile, was left to lament an apparent victory that got away in the top of the seventh.
Leading 3-2, the Hawks had two outs with a runner at second base when Oak Harbor’s Ryan Byrne chopped a grounder to shortstop. The throw was in time for what would have been the game-ending third out, but the ball short-hopped first baseman Dominic DeMiero and bounced away, and on the play Oak Harbor runner Jay Stout continued around third base and scored the tying run.
“That’s baseball,” said Mountlake Terrace coach Andrew Watters. “It comes down to they made one more play better than we did, but that’s the way it goes.”
Still, he added, “it was a good game for us in a lot of ways, because these are the games that help you get ready for what happens at the end of the year. But give a lot of credit to Oak Harbor. They’re a very good team and they’re going to be a tough team to beat at the end of the year.”
At Mountlake Terrace H.S.
Oak Harbor 001 100 100 1 — 4 14 1
Mountlake Terrace 001 101 000 0 — 3 8 3
Stout, Evans (6) and Glavick; Pahinui, Sheets (5) and Volpone. WP–Evans. LP–Sheets. 2B–Evans (OH), Rosen (OH), Stout (OH), Clark (OH), Hall (MT), Johnson (MT), Hatch (MT). 3B–Johnson (MT), Benham (MT). HR–Clark (OH). Records–Oak Harbor is 3-0 in league, 7-1 overall. Mountlake Terrace is 4-1, 7-3.
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