SNOHOMISH — Tied with Edmonds-Woodway through 51/2 innings, Glacier Peak broke the game open with a five-run rally in the bottom of the sixth on its way to a 6-2 Wesco 3A South baseball victory on Wednesday afternoon.
And it all started with a strikeout.
With the score 1-1, Glacier Peak’s Deven Kamihara led off the sixth against Edmonds-Woodway pitcher Brady Edwards. Kamihara swung and missed at a two-strike breaking ball, but the pitch bounced in the dirt and kicked away from Warriors catcher Garrison Krohn, who then had trouble finding the ball as Kamihara sprinted safely to first.
Teammate Iain Black dropped a sacrifice bunt to move pinch-runner Kazuki Kodama to second and Nate Sanders followed with a long double to left field for the go-ahead run. But the Grizzlies were far from finished, with four of the next five batters hitting safely against Warriors reliever Nick Hull, resulting in four more runs.
So how big was getting the leadoff runner on base via a strikeout/wild pitch?
“It changed the inning a lot,” said Glacier Peak coach Bob Blair. “If we don’t get that guy on base, they’ve got one out and they can rest back a little bit on defense. But if you get him on, now the pressure’s on them.”
“It changed the whole inning,” agreed Warriors coach Dan Somoza.
After Sanders’ RBI double, the Grizzlies got successive singles from Ethan Smith, Colton Bunt and Ryan Ober to make the score 4-1. One out later, Jacob Lundin bounced a single into right field for two more runs.
In the sixth, Somoza said, “they put the ball in play, found some holes and we couldn’t get out of (the inning).”
In the top of the seventh, Glacier Peak starting pitcher Sam Wyatt came within one out of a complete game. But with one Edmonds-Woodway run already in and two runners on base, Blair called on reliever Kyle Umperovitch, who got the save with a game-ending strikeout.
Though Wyatt gave up 11 hits with two walks and two hit batters, he made clutch pitches when he needed to, stranding eight hitters through six innings. He was also aided by two Glacier Peak double plays.
“He threw a great game,” Blair said. “Sam was our closer last year and he started out as the closer this year, but we moved him to the starting rotation and he’s been able to stretch (the innings) out. He’s probably one of our best competitors on the mound. He does not like to lose even one pitch.”
Indeed, Wyatt was plainly disappointed at being pulled with two outs in the seventh.
“The pitching coach and I had a long talk about that over the course of the first couple of batters (in the inning),” Blair said with a smile. “But it’s a team game and (Wyatt) knows he’s got to relinquish it if he can’t finish it out.”
The victory was very important for Glacier Peak, which is fighting for a district playoff spot in the final week of the regular season. The Grizzlies are in a down-to-the-wire battle with Meadowdale and Mountlake Terrace for the league’s final two postseason berths.
Beating Edmonds-Woodway “was huge,” Blair acknowledged. “We knew coming into this (series) this was our season, right here this week.”
As for a young Edmonds-Woodway team, there will be no playoffs this season. “We’re just playing for pride … and to build some momentum for next year,” Somoza said.
At Glacier Peak H.S.
E.-Woodway 010 000 1 — 2 10 2
Glacier Peak 010 005 x — 6 10 1
Brady Edwards, Nick Hull (6) and Garrison Krohn. Sam Wyatt and Nate Sanders. WP—Wyatt. LP—Edwards. 2B—Jake Lundin (GP), Iain Black (GP), Sanders (GP), Nick Woodside (E-W), Kosta Cooper (E-W). Records—Edmonds-Woodway 6-11 league, 7-12 overall. Glacier Peak 8-7, 8-8.
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