Glacier Peak rallied for its life, coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the seventh inning to beat Meadowdale 4-3 in a loser-out 3A District tournament baseball game May 9 at Meadowdale High School.
Both teams had played three games in three days, and fatigue was a factor according to both head coaches. But it was the Grizzlies who battled through.
The victory didn’t look likely for Glacier Peak at the close of the sixth. Bill Sullivan, coming back after a loss the day before in relief, pitched six scoreless innings for the Mavericks. In the seventh, senior closer Chris Osborne (6-for-6 in save situations previously) took over. The Grizzlies didn’t panic.
“We’re only down by two; we only need a couple of runners. We just need to be patient,” Glacier Peak head coach Bob Blair told his team going into the final frame. It had been raining during the game, and it was still raining. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him (Osborne) to settle in,” said Blair.
The patience paid off.
“Our defense let us down,” said Mavericks head coach Bill Hummel. Meadowdale dropped a foul popup and misplayed a ground ball. Then Osborne started having trouble and ended up walking in a run. Two singles from Glacier Peak made it 4-2.
Meadowdale got one run back in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t complete the comeback.
“We just couldn’t get it done,” said Hummel. “It is kind of a disappointing end to what has been a terrific season for us. We’re proud to be Wesco champs. I wish we could keep playing.”
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