SVSJ commentary: A heartstopping season, a heartstopping championship finish for Wildcat baseball
The 2011 baseball season for the Mount Si Wildcats had its share of many great thrills. All the big hits. Plenty of excitement on the basepaths. Many huge individual performances. The dramatic walk-off wins. The great pitching. The long blasts from names such as Breshears, Proudfoot and Brown.
Saturday’s state title game followed this blueprint to a “T”. This team did not quit one bit this spring. Mount Si stayed strong in every game right until the final pitch, and that made for an exciting brand of baseball which attracted more and more fans with every success. In fact, it appears this community showed up in a big way on Saturday to support these kids, with one observer suggesting to us the Valley contingent supporting scarlet and gray was double, maybe triple, the size of the fan group representing Shorewood. Students, parents, and just regular people who support Mount Si and local youth sports made the long trek down, or listened in live on the web. And these fans left Saturday’s game or turned off the broadcast with memories they will remember forever.
Because it’s not often that Mount Si teams are on this stage. Before Saturday, the last time Mount Si won a sports title was 2009’s boys golf crown, and the last time before that where the Wildcats even had a sniff of a title was in 2004, when girls’ softball fell in a heartbreaking loss in the 3A title game that year. So it is not often that Mount Si makes it this far in a state tournament, and it is even rarer that the Valley wins it all. So it is fair to say this is a moment which will be remembered in this community for years to come, and hopefully will once again help put local youth baseball on the map, something which a few of these kids were part of with their Little League success as 12-year olds back in 2005.
This is a group of kids which has been successful at the high school level, but weren’t, until now, able to get it over the hump. So, this group had to work through a coaching change this past offseason, and Elliott Cribby’s coaching turned this team into gold, implementing a strong, aggressive brand of baseball which brought out the best in all of these players and captivated fans far and wide. This was only Cribby’s first year as a high school varsity coach, and he’s already wearing a ring. Here’s hoping for more great success from this coach, and that it all will be in this community.
These playoffs were nothing short of dramatic for the Wildcats. Winning the Kingco title in walk-off fashion in extra innings. Rallying late to win their opening round game May 21 at regionals, then easily dispatching their second opponent. A play at the plate in last Friday’s semifinals which went our boys’ way and gave them this shot at the crown. Then the finish Saturday, which came as it very much appeared that the Wildcats were down and out and not going to be in a position to win.
If you’re older than 35 or so or have seen the highlight of it since, you know the famous quote from the 1980 U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team’s great upset over the Soviets at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, the one that broadcaster Al Michaels made at the end of that game. He asked this question, “Do you believe in miracles?,” then he shouted as the buzzer sounded, “Yes!” Well, for an entire Valley baseball community, those words rang true so vividly on Saturday, and these boys of spring have a state trophy to show for it.
Ryan Atkinson. Dustin Breshears. Daniel Besmer. Tim Proudfoot. Max Brown. Derek Welsh. Robb and Trevor Lane. Reece Karalus. Justin Henak. Trevor Taylor. Hudson Luxich. Nate Sinner. Andrew Dunklee. Shane Dixon. Travis Hilleary. Griffin McLain. Brian Woolley. Justin Blenheim. Matt Bankston. These boys of spring are true champions. First-time champions in their sport at Mount Si. A distinction that can never be taken away from them.
The SVSJ congratulates the 2011 Mount Si baseball team. WIAA 3A State Baseball Champions.
