Eagles conquer rival Wildcats in showdown on the diamond

Issaquah pitcher Torin Crockett goes the distance on the hill.

By Shaun Scott • March 28, 2018 11:51 pm
Photo courtesy of Jim Nicholson Issaquah Eagles first baseman Jared Jongejan prepares to receive a throw on a pickoff attempt from pitcher Torin Crockett in a game against the Mount Si Wildcats on March 28 at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue.
Photo courtesy of Jim Nicholson Issaquah Eagles first baseman Jared Jongejan prepares to receive a throw on a pickoff attempt from pitcher Torin Crockett in a game against the Mount Si Wildcats on March 28 at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue.

Issaquah Eagles senior right-handed pitcher Torin Crockett unveiled a complete game gem against the Mount Si Wildcats in a battle between KingCo 4A baseball teams.

Crockett surrendered just five hits and one run in seven innings of work, propelling the Eagles to a 3-1 win against the Wildcats on March 28 at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue. Issaquah improved its overall record to 6-1 with the win while Mount Si dropped to 3-4 overall. Crockett struck out nine Wildcats batters.

“Torin was awesome tonight. He was in command the entire game. That is what we expected. We know he can do it. He is that type of pitcher,” Issaquah head coach Rob Reese said of Crockett. “He had his curveball going tonight. It was pretty awesome. Torin was getting ahead (in the count) of dang near every hitter so it was huge.”

The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning after junior Lucas Senatore doubled down the right field line, scoring Jared Jongejan for the first run of the game. Issaquah extended its lead to 3-0 in the top of the fifth. Issaquah’s Justin Buckner tripled to right field, scoring Arden Walcott. An errant throw to third base by Mount Si allowed Buckner to cross home-plate, giving the Eagles a commanding 3-0 lead. Reese was thrilled his team was able to connect with timely hits against Mount Si’s talented hurlers. Mount Si starting pitcher Tank Brewster allowed just five hits and had nine strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings of work. Brewster surrendered just two earned runs.

“Their pitchers were awesome. They had double digit figure strikeouts against us. We just got a couple of key hits in a row. That was the key to the game,” Reese said.

Mount Si head coach Zach Habben was impressed with the way his pitching staff performed against Issaquah. Dusty Dover allowed just one hit and no runs in 2 1/3 innings of work after entering the game in the top of the fifth inning.

“Tank threw really well. He was going right after guys. He had good velocity and pretty good command. The pitch count just got up there and then Dusty came in. Dusty threw very well in relief. The pitching was great tonight,” Habben explained.

Mount Si scored its only run in the bottom of the sixth when Brewster connected on a single, scoring Spencer Marenco to cut Issaquah’s lead to 3-1. Habben said his squad is currently battling the flu bug but expects his team to continue its improvement on the diamond as the season progresses.

“We’re sick right now, which a lot of teams are this time of year. Right now we just got to push past it and go after it. Unfortunately we don’t get to take a day off,” Habben said.

The rivalry between the Eagles and Wildcats is something that isn’t forgotten by either program.

“We went down to the wire against them last year (Issaquah defeated Mount Si 7-6 in loser-out KingCo 4A playoff game). It is always fun to play those teams that are really close on the Eastside like Issaquah and Skyline,” Habben said. “A 3-1 loss is not that bad but you always want to come out on the other (winning) side. It was a solid game all the way through.”