Hawks take second at district tourney

EVERETT — One bad inning torpedoed Mountlake Terrace’s chance at pulling one of the biggest upsets of the season.

Leading 2-0 in the fifth, the Hawks sank as Jackson scored 10 runs in the bottom of the inning and went on to claim the Class 4A Northwest District 1 baseball championship 11-2 on May 13 at Everett Memorial Stadium.

Both teams already had secured state regional berths and are scheduled to play Saturday (May 20). Mountlake Terrace takes on Auburn at 11 a.m. at Kent Memorial Park. If the Hawks win, they then would face either Emerald Ridge or Woodinville in the regional championship game at 5 p.m.

Mountlake Terrace, the No. 4 seed out of the Western Conference South Division, earned its state berth with victories over North Division No. 1 seed Monroe and South Division No. 2 seed Kamiak.

The loss to No. 2 nationally ranked Jackson did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the Hawks, which are making their first appearance in the state tournament since 2001.

Senior shortstop Bryan Barnes is looking forward to the state tournament.

“The way we played in the district tournament so far, I think if we keep playing like we (have), we’ve got a chance to go to Safeco,” Barnes said.

The semifinals and finals of the Class 4A and 3A tournaments are being played at Safeco Field this season.

Mountlake Terrace coach Andrew Watters stressed the positive to his players after the loss, especially the performance of starting pitcher Andrew Knutson, who kept the high-powered Wolfpack lineup in check for four innings.

“I think that Andrew Knutson had one of the greatest pitching performances we’ve had all year, shutting those guys down for as long as he did,” Watters said. “For us to have a 2-0 lead at that time of the game is a huge confidence boost for our team. I think that that in the end is going to be a game that gives us some confidence going into the state tournament.”

The Wolfpack had only one hit and four baserunners (three walks) in the first four innings.

Against Monroe, Knutson allowed only one run in a complete-game performance to open the district tournament. The senior righthander duplicated his effort in the first four innings of Saturday’s championship game.

“He located his fastball,” Watters said. “When these high school pitchers … keep the ball down and at the knee and on that outer half of the plate, there’s not a lot of high-school hitters that like to hit that or can hit that. He just had pinpoint control today.”

Neither team could muster any offense in the first four innings, but Mountlake Terrace broke through in the top of the fifth.

Freshman catcher Paul Clingan reached first on an error by the Jackson shortstop. Clingan was replaced by courtesy runner Jake Theis, who then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Anthony Rutherford. Barnes then beat out an infield grounder for a single, moving Theis to third. Barnes then stole second.

Knutson helped himself with a single to center field to score Theis and Barnes to give Mountlake Terrace a 2-0 advantage.

The lead didn’t last long.

In the bottom of the fifth, Jackson sophomore Danny Oh led off with a hard grounder to second. The throw pulled the Mountlake Terrace first baseman off the bag and gave the Timberwolves the opening they needed.

After striking out Jackson’s Joe Markovich, Knutson surrendered a game-tying home run to Jon Wahl, whose line drive shot cleared the center field fence.

The rally didn’t end until the Timberwolves had pushed across eight more runs with 14-plate appearances. Wahl added a two-RBI single, senior Joseph Lind hit a two-RBI double and senior Joey Petosa stroked a three-RBI triple.

Watters had to call on two other pitchers before the damage was contained.

Wahl’s home run definitely was the turning point, Jackson coach Alan Briggs said.

“It puts a lot of adrenaline and a lot of enthusiasm into our team,” Briggs said. “That was a huge hit. It turned the momentum … that’s what good hitting teams do. They go out and score runs in bunches.”

Briggs won’t get any arguments from Barnes.

“What makes Jackson tough is their offensive lineup,” Barnes said. “They’ve probably got the best lineup I’ve ever seen in my life.”

If Jackson was a little tense or worried after Mountlake Terrace scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the fifth inning, all of that tension melted away after Wahl’s homer.

“That’s what really set us up,” senior outfielder Travis Snider said. “That allowed us to breathe for a second and go out there and play our game. Guys just kept hitting from that point on … it was awesome to see the guys get it done today.”

In addition to hitting a home run, Jackson showed it can play small ball in the fifth inning.

With junior outfielder Kawika Emsley-Pai on first base after being hit by a pitch, Snider did the unexpected — he laid down a bunt past Knutson for a single. Snider and Emsley-Pai later scored on Lind’s double.

Mountlake Terrace was employing an unusual shift at the time against Snider. The second baseman was situated in shallow right field, while the shortstop was at second base.

The Hawks had five hits against Jackson starter Cam Nobles, who threw a no-hitter against Marysvillle-Pilchuck in a first-round district game.

“We’re glad against a quality pitcher that we can score a couple of runs and get runners on against him,” Watters said. “That’s another plus we take out of the ball game for our team.”

Mountlake Terrace played Jackson tough, Briggs said.

“They put our backs against the wall,” he said. “They deserve to be in this game. They definitely have a good team over there and put pressure on us and our guys responded.”