Last-gasp rally gives Mount Si first championship | 3A Baseball

TACOMA — When Robb Lane was 12, he played for an all-star squad in an important tournament game. His team trailed. He was the last man to bat, the final hope. And he struck out.

With two outs in the seventh inning of the Class 3A state championship game Saturday, Mount Si trailed by two runs. Lane stepped to the plate and looked back on that moment.

This time, he delivered. His hit provided the momentum that led to Mount Si's 5-4 victory over second-ranked Shorewood at Cheney Stadium. He sparked the rally that delivered the fifth-ranked Wildcats' first state baseball championship.

"I might have messed up when I was 12, but I'm 18 now, I can make up for it," said Lane, who scored the tying run on the second of three seventh-inning errors by the Thunderbirds. "I can put one in play and help my team."

Added Mount Si's Max Brown, "I knew something special was going to happen. That hit by Robb Lane, right when that happened, we knew there was no stopping us."

Lane roped his two-out single, then sprinted to second when the ball was mishandled in the outfield, while Dustin Breshears, who had reached on a fielder's choice, moved to third. Tim Proudfoot followed with an infield single that drove in Breshears. The attempt to get Proudfoot at first sailed wide, allowing Lane to score.

Trevor Lane singled to get Proudfoot to third and bring Brown to the plate. The senior center fielder was nervous, but he said he took a deep breath and tried to avoid chasing off-speed pitches. He ripped a ball to third and sprinted down the line. He didn't see the third baseman bobble it, but did hear the crowd erupt when Proudfoot scored the winning run.

"That was crazy," said Brown, who drove in first two runs with a two-out single in the first inning.

It was a heartbreaking loss for Shorewood (23-3), which took a two-run lead in the fifth on a two-run homer from Max Jacobs that landed in the bullpen in left field.

Mount Si coach Elliott Cribby could tell his players were down late in the game, but reminded them there was time to rally.

The sequence that followed produced the first championship for the Wildcats' 25-year-old coach in his debut season.

"We put the ball in play, we were aggressive, made them earn everything," Cribby said. "Fortunately, it went our way. Talk about baseball gods, I think they were definitely flying around us today."

Third-place game

Camas 6, Kamiakin 4

Logan Grindy hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to propel top-ranked Camas (26-1) past No. 8 Kamiakin. The Braves (22-7) were without eight players. Two were ejected at the end of their semifinal loss to Mount Si on Friday and six more were suspended for disciplinary reasons.