Mount Si edges LW for KingCo 3A title, 1-0 / Baseball

BELLEVUE — Dustin Breshears wanted to help out his pitcher, Reece Karalus. The Mount Si second baseman didn't want to let the hard-throwing junior right-hander's effort to go to waste.

Breshears finally delivered a one-out RBI single to right field in the bottom of the eighth inning Friday night at Bannerwood Park, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 win over Lake Washington in the KingCo 3A baseball championship game.

Mount Si, the regular-season conference champion, beat the Kangaroos in their only other meeting this season in a similar, walk-off scenario.

"We'd been stinging the ball all night, but it was just right to them, and that's baseball, I guess," said Breshears, the team's leadoff hitter, who drove in Ryan Atkinson from third to win the game. "We finally found a hole and got the job done. The last three years we've not got it done in the playoffs."

Fifth-ranked Mount Si (18-3) qualified for state for the first time since 1997. It's only the Wildcats' third trip, and they're still seeking their first state-tournament win.

On Saturday, Lake Washington (12-10) plays a 4 p.m. loser-out game at Bannerwood against the survivor of a 1 p.m. game between Sammamish (10-12) and Mercer Island (12-9) for KingCo's No. 2 seed. That team then must beat the Metro League's No. 4 team — Saturday's Bishop Blanchet-West Seattle loser — on Tuesday for a trip to state.

Mount Si broke its long state-playoff drought under its first-year coach, 25-year-old Elliott Cribby, who graduated from Lake Washington in 2003 and was a pitcher for the Kangs.

"It was a battle and we did that the first time we played them. We just got it done in the end," said Cribby. Karalus "battled out of some jams. I couldn't be more proud of these guys. We got a banner for league in 2005, but the last time we went to state was 1997, so there's been a rough patch for Mount Si baseball.

"We'd just fallen flat in the playoffs in the past. We told these guys the past is in the past."

At one point, Karalus retired 10 batters in a row and 21 of 22 until designated hitter Nori Shimizu singled, stole second base and went to third on a balk. But that's where he stayed when Victor Mayorquin struck out to end the top of the eighth inning.

With one out, Breshears came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth and looped a single to right field to score Atkinson. Atkinson, who reached on a fielder's choice, got in scoring position by stealing second and going to third on an overthrow by LW catcher Stevie Simler.

Karalus finished with a three-hitter, striking out six and throwing 103 pitches.

It was a tough loss for LW starter, Spencer Jackson, who went all the way and gave up seven hits and fanned four on 92 pitches.

The Kangaroos beat Sammamish 10-1 on Thursday to advance to the title game.

Mount Si won the first meeting of the schools 2-1 on April 15 on a game-winning hit by Nate Sinner. The teams were slated to play May 2 at LW, but the game was rained out and not made up because it didn't affect seeding into the playoffs.