By Quint Turner
The Meadowdale Maverick baseball team quietly clinched a state playoff berth with wins over Mount Vernon and Glacier Peak last week. The team’s miraculous run ended abruptly Saturday when the third-ranked Enumclaw Hornets smashed the Mavs, 19-2. A great pitching performance from Enumclaw senior Cody Hughes earned him the win, while Maverick starting pitcher Sam Triece got the loss.
The Mavs were the away team, as they were lower ranked, and they got off to a good start with back-to-back singles from Matt Hircsch and Chris Osborne in the top of the first. But clean-up hitter Sam Thomas grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. The Hornets went quickly to work with one out and the bases full, as Kyle Baumgartner hit a single through the hole to make it 1-0. A follow-up single from Marcus Madden drove home another, and a fielder’s choice from Eric Koeing made it 3-0 at the end of the first. T
he Mavs continued to struggle while the Hornets tacked on two more in the second with back-to-back singles followed by a double steal to put runners on second and third. That led to a base hit for Tyler Carlson, driving home one, and then a sacrifice fly from Hughes that brought home another to make it 5-0 at the end of two.
The Mavericks showed signs of life in the third with a rally starting with a two-out single from Hirsch, followed by an errant throw from Hornet third baseman Madden that got runners on first and second. Both Mavericks scored on Thomas’ looper that just barely fell in between shortstop Michael Lucarelli and left fielder Kyle Thompson. The Hornets grew their lead in the bottom of the third, as three walks filled the bases for a fielders choice that took out the runner going to second, but still scored one. Then a walk on a wild pitch brought another home, and a throw from catcher Ethan Coffey trying to pick off the runner at third scored another to make it 8-2 at the end of three.
Meadowdale had a lead-off single in the fourth from Jon Boone, but couldn’t do anything with it when Boone was picked off, ending the inning. Torin Dooley of the Mavericks came in and pitched the fourth. The Hornets were shut out in only one inning, the fourth, after getting runners on first and second. Madden struck out and the throw from Coffey to third caught Hughes stealing. A groundout ended the inning, and the score remained 8-2.
The fifth started with a throw from Lucarelli that allowed Nathan Ball to get to first, but he was picked off and a single led to a 3-6-3 double play to end the inning. The Hornets batted around and scored six more in the fifth. A lead-off walk followed by a throw from pitcher Dooley allowed Thompson to hit a sacrifice fly to make it 9-2. Then, a single from Lucarelli with a runner on second scored another, while Carlson forced an error from third baseman Tyler Ackerman to get runners on second and third. Hughes drove home on a single, and then a double from Baumgartner scored two more to make it 13-2. Madden followed him up and hit a ball to Dooley, and an errant throw allowed Baumgartner to score, and the inning ended 14-2.
In the sixth, the Mavs went down 1-2-3 inning. Sam Herzer relieved Dooley but the Hornets continued their assault, scoring five more runs and ending up with a 19-2 win.
The Hornets were eliminated later in the day by Mount Si, which beat Enumclaw 6-2.
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