MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — The Mountlake Terrace baseball team came from behind late, scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie it and then walking it off in the seventh as the Hawks defeated the Cedarcrest Red Wolves 3-2 in a Wesco South contest Wednesday afternoon.
Hawks senior Ethan Swenson faced a 3-1 count in the seventh before smacking a pitch into center field, driving senior Talan Zenk home with the winning run.
“I got a 3-0 count … saw a fastball, wanted to get my timing down, good take there,” Swenson said of his game-winning hit. “Came back with another fastball low, got a barrel to it and hit it off the fence, walkoff.”
“(Swenson’s) been that guy who’s always fluttered around (the) one through five (spots in the batting lineup), but whenever we call his number, that guy is ready,” Mountlake Terrace coach Ryan Sells said. “(Overall), our hitting will come. … But one thing to take away is our defense played really well, and our pitching was dominant. … If (we) can compete and pitch in contact, our defense will do the job.”
Jeremy Perrault went 2-for-4 for Mountlake Terrace, which improved to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in league. Cedarcrest dropped to 4-6, 1-4.
Mountlake Terrace, trailing 2-0, fired it up in the bottom of the sixth inning. Junior McCoy LaBlanc and sophomore Owen Meek both singled to put two runners on base, and junior Griffin Potter followed with an RBI single, driving home LaBlanc and pushing Meek to third. A wild pitch allowed Meek to score and tie the score 2-2.
Swenson came in to pitch in the top of the seventh, relieving Ryan Sturgill, who himself tossed 5 2/3 innings of solid relief. Though Cedarcrest got two runners on base with a walk and a single, Swenson induced a double-play grounder to ease the pressure, then got out of the jam without allowing a run, setting up the winning sequence.
“We always compete in those five, six, seven innings,” Sells said. “But leaving guys on base will be our Achilles heel in the end, and I think if we can take advantage of that, being able to hit, being able to control our barrels, control the plate, we’ll see a different outcome.”
Cedarcrest took advantage of three Mountlake Terrace walks in the top of the first inning to open the scoring. Red Wolves senior Charlie Stalnaker grounded out, which drove in junior Quinn Larson, and junior Murphy Vliem grounded a single to center field, which drove in junior Luke Thompson for a 2-0 lead.
Thompson, who started on the mound for Cedarcrest, kept his team in front for nearly the entire contest. He pitched six innings with seven strikeouts, frustrating Mountlake Terrace’s offense. The Hawks went several innings where they couldn’t score runs despite having runners on second or third base, and occasionally a bases-loaded scenario.
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