MARYSVILLE — A day after failing to score in a district semifinal loss to Mountlake Terrace, the Marysville Pilchuck baseball team made up for it and then some on Wednesday.
The Tomahawks cobbled together 15 hits en route to a 13-5 win over Stanwood in a loser-out 3A District 1 consolation bracket game on a sunny day at Memorial Field.
Marysville Pilchuck advances to play Shorewood in a third-place, winner-to-state game on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Meridian Park Fields.
The Tomahawks have played Shorewood three times in the past two seasons and are 0-3 against the Thunderbirds, including a 4-1 loss a week ago. The Tomahawks have scored a total of three runs in the three losses to Shorewood.
“We need timely hits,” said Marysville Pilchuck coach Kurt Koshelnik of the matchup with Shorewood. “That seems to be the difference in our games when we play them. It’s that double with that guy on first. We haven’t done that against them.”
Marysville Pilchuck (17-6 overall) took advantage of a pair of Spartans’ errors to jump out to a 7-0 lead. With two outs and a runner on third, Trey Southard smashed a grounder to second that was misplayed and allowed the game’s first run to score. The Tomahawks followed that up with three straight hits, including an RBI double by Brayden Hopstad to increase their lead to 3-0.
In the second, a throwing error allowed two runs to score and increased MP’s lead to 7-0.
“They made kind of an unfortunate error and it kind of sparked us,” Koshelnik said. “It was the little thing that we needed.”
Stanwood scratched and clawed its way back into the game. A two-run single by Alec Scappini in the second and a pair of RBI singles in the fifth helped Stanwood cut the Marysville Pilchuck lead to 7-5 and made Koshelnik nervous enough to put in ace Cody Anderson. The senior lefty got the next six batters out in order — four by strikeout — to close out the win.
“To their credit they fought and they fought. With Cody sitting there we have to (go to him),” Koshelnik said of the thought process of bringing Anderson in. “What gives us our best chance to get to Saturday? It was bringing in Cody.”
Koshelnik said that Anderson, who pitched a complete-game in Marysville Pilchuck’s 3-0 win over Meadowdale in the district opener on Saturday, will have no limitations against Shorewood.
Marysville Pilchuck catcher Ben Northrop reached base all four times he came up, hit a pair of doubles and scored three runs. Nic Anderson went 2-for-5 with three RBI and Jake Luton was 2-for-4 with three RBI for the Tomahawks.
At Memorial Field
Stanwood 002 120 0 — 5 6 2
M. Pilchuck 340 015 x — 13 15 1
Wyatt Jeans, Isaac Olsen (2), Collin McKenzie (6) and Ryen
Verbarendse, Maverick Larkin (4). Collin Holeman, Parker House (5),
Cody Anderson (6) and Ben Northrup. WP—Holeman. LP—Jeans. 2B—Brayden
Hopstad (MP) 2, Northrup (MP) 2, Nic Anderson (MP), Jake Luton (MP).
Records—Stanwood 15-8 overall. Marysville Pilchuck 17-6.
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