On this Tuesday, we have a pair of playoff previews for you. First, we have baseball, and Mount Si High School’s varsity is in the semifinals of the WesKing 4A district playoffs this afternoon with an opportunity to punch a ticket once again to the Washington state high school playoffs just like they did last year. It’s against a very familiar foe, at a very familiar place – Bannerwood Park in Bellevue.
KINGCO 4A BASEBALL
WESKING 4A DISTRICT TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS – WINNER TO STATE
MOUNT SI WILDCATS VS. SKYLINE SPARTANS
BANNERWOOD PARK, BELLEVUE, 4:00 P.M. FIRST PITCH
The Wildcats and Spartans meet in the WesKing semis with a trip to state on the line. Mount Si is 2-0 on Skyline this season, winning their game at Mount Si 5-2 on April 7 and the regular season finale for both teams April 29 4-2 at Skyline.
The Wildcats come in off a fantastic 3-2 win over North Creek in the district playoff opener last weekend that was all about strong pitching and clutch offense. And those things will be plentiful we expect today. Senior Alex Chamberlain we expect will be the player to watch for Mount Si. Against Skyline pitcher Jacob Peterson, who we expect will be the starter on the bump for the Spartans today and who pitched in that April 7 contest, Chamberlain went 2-4 in that game. “Chambo” is hitting .246 on the season but had the biggest hit of the game on Saturday, hitting a key sacrifice fly in the seventh that helped plate what turned out to be the game-winning run in that win over the Jaguars. The winning runner was Gavin Yost, who set the thing up with a double; he has four of those on the season thus far and is leading the team in hitting at .317. But the offense still has to get cooking and fast – they continue to struggle as a team, only hitting .222.
Peterson is 3-2 with a 1.83 earned run average and worked four innings against Mount Si in the first meeting of the season on April 7 allowing three runs, one earned, on three hits walking four and striking out seven. He overall has pitched a little over 34 innings in eight appearances this spring, allowing 21 runs, nine earned, on 36 hits, walking 12 and striking out 26. Opponents are hitting .261 against Peterson this season.
Mount Si we expect goes with senior pitcher Logan Anderson on the hill. Anderson is 3-1 with a 1.68 earned run average, but he has not faced the Spartans this spring. So that lack of familiarity from Skyline’s point of view could be problematic for them – and good for Mount Si. If the Wildcats are able to mount an early offensive push in this one, that could be very good news for this scarlet and gray group. In 10 appearances, he’s thrown a little over 33 innings, allowing just 14 runs, eight earned, walking 16 and striking out 30. So we’d expect to see this University of Portland-bound hurler get that call, and do very well for himself with it.
The toughest hitters Anderson, if he gets the assignment, is likely to face include junior Dylan Folkman, he of a .386 average this spring with four doubles and 12 RBI’s, and sophomore Mason Pirello, who’s hit two homers as part of a solid .300 campaign this spring. Also keep an eye on senior Aiden Gerth (.309, five doubles, 10 RBI’s) and two others – seniors Hamilton Strain and Henry Rooney, both of whom homered on Saturday in their district playoff win over Jackson that sent them into today’s game.
With all that said, on paper, it should be fairly obvious who we like here. That said, it is hard to beat a team three times in a season, and with this Mount Si offense not hitting at a particularly good clip as a team, there is certainly the potential that this could be challenging. But we still like their chances a lot, and again, it’s all about the early innings. If the Wildcats get a handle on things out of the gate and if Anderson does his thing, it’s game over and off to state for the boys.
MOUNT SI 5, SKYLINE 1
Snoqualmie Valley Sports Journal 