Mountaineers Show Muscle – And Endurance – On Their Way to the Semifinals

RICHLAND – Because of only 12 teams making the Class 1A State Fastpitch Tournament, Mount Baker had to win a “loser-out” game to get into the round of eight. The Mounties took care of business, crushing four homeruns in the 16-1 win over Klahowya, but it will be the 13-inning marathon in the quarterfinals against College Place that families in Deming will talk about for years to come.

In game one, the Eagles got off to an early lead when sophomore Riley Carver hit a first-inning homerun to centerfield, but that would be all of the offense for Klahowya, as the Mounties struck back with a two-run homerun

in the bottom of the first by Maddy Barter. The junior right fielder cracked a bases-loaded single in the following inning, and Baker went on to score eight runs in the second.

“Our whole goal here is to get the energy going,” Barter said. “So, I was really glad to do that for me team.”

She finished with six runs batted in on three hits, a triple shy of the cycle.

Freshman catcher Gracie Zender had quite a game as well, with two homeruns and five runs batted in. They were her eighth and ninth homeruns on the season.

“Our energy was super high, and that’s what we wanted,” Zender said. “We knew going into state that if we kept our energy at a high level that it would help our offense.”

The game ended after three innings once Mount Baker was ahead by 15 runs because of the WIAA tournament rules.

After getting the first win of the day, the Mounties were able to breathe a little easier, but it didn’t last long as game two turned into an instant classic.

Facing the third-seeded College Prep Hawks, Baker was able to get on the board in the top of the first inning when senior Ashlynn Cloninger’s bloop single fell in front of the centerfielder and allowed freshman Annalee Cohn to score.

With Mount Baker sophomore Ava Jeretsky matching College Place junior Zoe Hardy pitch for pitch, the score remained 1-0 going into the top of the fourth inning. The Mounties added on in the fourth when sophomore Lauren Valum hit a two-out bases-loaded single to right field which scored Kaitlyn Rosenburg. Cohn then drew a walk which scored Taite Reardon, and Mountaineers were up 3-0.

The Hawks countered back when Gabrielle Sanchez scored on a passed ball, but Baker answered in the top of the fifth when Zender doubled in Cloninger. It was a deja vu moment two innings later when another double by Zender scored Cloninger, and the Mountaineers took a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

To that point, Jeretzky had pitched masterfully, having only allowed two hits and an unearned run. She had only struck out three batters in the first six innings, but she was using the defense behind her to make plays, and it had been working. But, this is the state tournament.

The Hawks came on strong in the bottom of the seventh, two of the first three batters of the inning were able to reach on base hits. With two on, a double by freshman Kenadie Schreindl scored two for College Place, and that was followed up by a single from Hardy which scored Schreindl.

Needing just two more outs to end the game, and get the win, Coach Lepper made the switch from Jeretzky to Rosenburg in the circle. The senior induced a ground out, but a two-out single by Sanchez scored Hardy to tie the game up at five in the bottom of the seventh.

To extra innings they went.

Both pitchers were each able to get three quick outs in the eighth inning, and the ninth inning started with a runner on second base.

As the visiting team, Baker would get the first crack at it, with Barter starting the inning on second base. Cloninger led off the inning with a line drive double to left field, which scored Barter easily, but Cloninger’s aggressiveness got her out at third base. It would prove to be costly, as she could have gotten to third on the next pitch (a wild pitch), and would have scored after Zender and Jeretzky each had base hits later in the inning. A strikeout ended the top of the ninth for Baker, and the Hawks would have to battle back.

They did.

Schreindl’s single with one out scored Alondra Guttierez, who started the inning at second base, but Rosenburg made quick work of the next two batters, and the game would go into the 10th inning tied at six.

The top of the 10th began with senior Kerianna Cronk getting hit by a pitch, which forced her to leave the game. Because the inning started with a runner on second, it was looking good for Mount Baker, but Hardy struck out the next two batters. Hardy then struck out Barter, but when the catcher didn’t hang on, she heard assistant coach Bret Pugmire encouraging her loudly from his coaching box at first base to run. She raced down the first-base line and just beat the throw, which loaded the bases. Cloninger followed with a hard-hit grounder down the third-base line, and a force out was made at third to end any scoring threat by the Mountaineers.

In the bottom of the 10th, the Hawks quickly sacrificed the runner from second to third, and with one out, College Place had the winning run just 60 feet away. With the outfielders playing in, Rosenburg got a clutch strikeout which then turned the lineup over. Hardy was intentionally walked, and a deep fly ball to Barter in right field was caught to end the 10th inning.

I then ran out of room on my scoring book.

The Mounties went three up and three down in the top of the 11th, and they knew it would be difficult to again keep the Hawks off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning. Coach Lepper quickly intentionally walked the first hitter (putting a runner on second and first), and Rosenburg quickly followed that up by getting the next three College Prep batters out.

Valum began the top of the 12th inning at second base, and quickly got to third on a wild pitch. Cohn then drew a walk and Barter’s ground out scored Valum. Cloninger struck out, Rosenburg was intentionally walked and Zender then struck out to close out the top of the 12th, but Baker held the lead. Hardy struck out 27 Baker batters in the game, but the perseverance of those Baker batters had allowed for a one-run lead going into the bottom of the 12th.

Rosenburg took care of business, getting the first batter to fly out directly to her, and she struck out the final two batters to end the game.

“I’m just so proud of how every single person played,” said Cloninger moments after the game while fighting back tears of joy. “Every single girl knows their role on this team, and they are very good at it. Even if we would have lost this game, it would have been ok, because we played the best we could have possibly played.”

The win puts Mount Baker (22-5) in the semifinals against Nooksack Valley (24-1) who beat Hoquiam 8-3. The Mountaineers and Pioneers will play tomorrow morning at 9:00 for a spot in the state championship game.