Northrop’s walk-off RBI single leads MP over Snohomish

MARYSVILLE — In just his second at-bat of the season, Tomahawks junior Ben Northrop clinched his team’s win with a two-out, walk-off single and The Wesco 3A North-leading Marysville Pilchuck baseball team took down Snohomish 4-3 in a nonleague game.

Ironically 4-3 was a fitting score because that’s the move the Tomahawks made this year, going from 4A to 3A. The nonleague game — one of only three during the regular season for the Tomahawks — was a chance for both teams to experiment, but it was also the chance for Marysville Pilchuck to beat a rival and the leader of its former league.

“(Snohomish) will always be one of our rivals. League or nonleague it’s always nice to beat Snohomish,” Kurt Koshelnik said.

Marysville Pilchuck took a 2-0 lead early and by the fourth it was 3-1. But in the sixth, Snohomish’s Haakon Lande homered to make it 3-2. A Snohomish runner scored on a passed ball in the top of the seventh and suddenly it was a tie game.

“They were scrappy, their kids were playing hard,” Koshelnik said of the Panthers players.

The game was far from typical, with Snohomish using a different pitcher every inning but the seventh. The Tomahawks were also using the game to try out new players, including Northrop.

“We had lots of new guys in, Snohomish was doing the same thing. I have to give credit to our kids,” said Koshelnik. “(Northrop’s) opportunity came up and we’re just really proud of him.”

Nick Anderson was also big for Marysville Pilchuck’s offense, going 2-for-2 with two RBI.

Lande was 2-for-3, including the home run, for the Panthers.

At Marysville Pilchuck H.S.

Snohomish 000 101 1—3 5 2

Marysville Pilchuck 020 100 1—4 8 1

Jordan Prokop, Cormick Rizzo (2), Casey Flitsch (3), Tom Pennington (4), Andrew Conrad (5), Ryan Sandifer (6) and Ben Johnston. Alex Gray, Thomas Durand (5) and Kacey Walker, Ben Northrop (6). WP—Durand (2-1). LP—Sandifer. 2B—Sandifer (S). HR—Haakon Lande (S). Records—Snohomish 6-3 overall. Marysville Pilchuck 6-1.