E. Catholic wins Metro showdown

BELLEVUE — Almost a dozen scouts, their radar guns aimed at the plate, lined the backstop fence to watch a field packed with potential. Four of Baseball Northwest's top 50 Washington seniors, not to mention a herd of talented underclassmen, were in the lineup Wednesday when top-ranked Bishop Blanchet played No. 2 Eastside Catholic.

But a player on nobody's radar, a slender junior batting ninth for Eastside Catholic, stole the win for the Crusaders in a 9-8 victory at Bellevue Community College.

"It's just fun to run fast," said Garrett DeGallier, unable to rid himself of a smile since sliding across the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Sixteen runs and 21 hits after the first pitch, DeGallier stepped to the plate with two outs and nobody on. He hit a sharp ground ball to first, and when it caromed off the first baseman's leg and into the outfield, he heard his first-base coach screaming.

"Go! Go! Go!"

DeGallier sprinted for second, just beating the throw. A balk moved him to third, and when a Blanchet pitch bounced to the backstop, he scampered home.

That capped an eventful afternoon in which Blanchet (11-1, 8-1 Metro League) and Eastside Catholic (10-1, 8-0) — who play again Friday at Lower Woodland Park — traded leads four times. After Blanchet scored three times on Oregon State-bound left-hander Matt Boyd in the first, the Crusaders came back with four in the third and two in the fourth to lead 7-3. Arizona State prospect Michael Englund was 3 for 3 with a double and DeGallier was 3 for 4 for Eastside Catholic.

But in the top of the sixth, Blanchet came back with five runs against Boyd, all with two outs. Washington signee Jake Lamb, who finished 3 for 4 with three RBI, poked a two-run double to left to make it 7-6. Then Cameron Cutter hit another two-run double over the left fielder's head to put Blanchet ahead 8-7.

"When you score eight runs against Matt Boyd, that's a couple outings' worth against him," Blanchet coach George Monica said. "He's very, very good."

Eastside Catholic's Mike Bush homered leading off the bottom of the sixth to tie it at 8, and Sam Lindquist pitched a perfect seventh to set the Crusaders up for the win.

"That was just a great baseball game," Eastside Catholic coach Curt Towey said.