MOUNT VERNON
Safeco Field is a mighty impressive place to have the Class 3A state baseball tournament.
Still, if Meadowdale had its way, state would be played at Sherman Anderson Field.
The Mount Vernon ballpark was once again kind to the Mavericks in a pair of regional routs May 17. Meadowdale downed West Seattle 7-3 to begin the day, then hammered Seattle Prep 11-0 to earn a spot in this week’s state tournament.
The two wins make Meadowdale now 10-0 at Sherman Anderson Field over the past two seasons.
“I have no explanation for that,” head coach Bill Hummel said. “I do know that this was originally supposed to be (played) at the community college and, when we got an e-mail on Tuesday that we would be here, we were really happy about it.”
Meadowdale plays Kelso in the state semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday, May 23.
The finals win against Seattle Prep came with a five-hit shutout from junior Chris Johnson that included seven strikeouts. The Mavericks also committed no errors in the game and banged out 12 hits.
It was such a complete performance, Hummel mentioned the word “perfect” when talking about it afterward.
“We talk to our kids about trying to play a perfect game. It’s almost impossible in baseball, but you still want to try,” the head coach said. “In that win, we had great defense, great pitching and we really hit the ball well. That was about as perfect as you can be.”
Meadowdale scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning after Taylor Brennan and Andy Lyon hit back-to-back singles to start it. Chase Anselment then belted a two-run double to score both runners and scored himself on a sacrifice fly by Roger O’Neill.
Anselment came through again in the Mavericks’ signature inning. Leading 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Meadowdale plated four more runs and seemingly knocked the spirit out of Seattle Prep. Lyon had a run-scoring double in the inning, one pitch before Anselment launched a massive home run over the right-field wall.
Anselment, who said he’s had other productive games at Sherman Anderson Field in the past, finished 2-for-4 with four RBI.
“Everyone was hitting well at the plate today and really looking for good pitches while they were up there,” he said. “I think we went into the playoffs not playing too well, but we always seem to play our best here. We just don’t lose here.”
Johnson really wasn’t challenged during the full seven innings. He struck out the side in the fourth and retired seven consecutive batters at one point.
“You can’t say enough about Chris Johnson,” Hummel said. “He went out there and just fired strikes. That’s two weekends in a row he’s done that for us.”
Meadowdale had eight hits in the opening win against West Seattle. The Mavericks fell behind 2-1 in the second inning, but bounced back with two runs in the bottom of the second and four more in the third to grab a commanding 7-2 advantage.
Teagan Dooley and Brennan each had run-scoring singles in the bottom of the second, and O’Neill smacked a two-run double and Dooley had a run-scoring triple in the bottom of the third.
Matt Gorman picked up the win for the Mavericks, allowing seven hits in six innings. West Seattle scored one more run in the top of the fifth to make it 7-3, but Gorman and relief pitcher Jake Haight allowed just two baserunners the rest of the way and the defense finished the game off with a double play.
Meadowdale had eight hits in its first victory, giving the Mavericks 20 for the day.
“We want the kids to have a good plan when they go to the plate. We want them to read the pitcher from the first batter,” Hummel said. “They just all had great plans today.”
Ryan Piersol writes for The Herald in Everett.
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