With bragging rights and a chance to avoid an early Saturday morning wake-up call on the line, Issaquah settled for the next best thing Tuesday afternoon.
The Eagles dropped their regular-season finale 3-1 to Redmond, tying the Mustangs for the KingCo Crest title, but losing the No. 1 playoff seed by way of tiebreaker. Both teams finished the league season with 12-4 records, but Redmond’s two wins over Issaquah gave them the nod for the top seed.
While disappointed, IHS head coach Rob Reese shook the loss off quickly.
“Basically you play the whole KingCo season for seeding, so the real season begins now,” he said.
As the No. 2 seed, Issaquah plays in a 10 a.m. opening-round game Saturday at Woodinville High School. They will face the No. 3 seed from the KingCo Crest — either Lake Washington or Woodinville. Those two teams play tonight.
Issaquah had its chances on Tuesday, but a couple of key mistakes, combined with trouble hitting Redmond ace Zach Abbruzza, proved too much.
The Eagles led the bottom of the first inning off with an infield hit from Grant Gellatly and a single from Mike Paulson. Abbruzza shut Issaquah down from there, not allowing another hit until the bottom of the sixth.
“I just wanted to come in and throw strikes,” Abbruzza said. “All year long that’s what I’ve done, and I feel like we have a better team than (Issaquah). They have a real tough squad, but I felt that if we played our game, we could beat them.”
Redmond didn’t have much success off of Issaquah starter Shane Yarnell either. He held the potent Mustang offense scoreless until the top of the fourth inning. Their first run came on a sacrifice fly from T.J. Whidby in the top of the fifth for a 1-0 lead.
“It was a pitchers’ duel,” Reese said. “They were two undefeated pitchers and they showed why. They both got themselves out of jams.”
Issaquah finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth.
With two outs, Spencer Rogers drilled a triple to the left-field corner. Devin O’Donnell followed by hitting a high chopper off the plate. O’Donnell beat the throw to first, and Rogers scored, tying the game 1-1.
Redmond countered quickly, however.
Yarnell got the first batter in the top of seventh to hit into a lineout. Abbruzza then reached on an error by Gellatly at short, before Yarnell struck the next batter out. The Mustangs followed with three consecutive two-out singles up the middle, getting RBI hits from Whidby and Patrick McGrath.
Abbruzza closed out the bottom of the seventh with a flyout and two strikeouts.
“That guy’s been tough on us,” Reese said.
Abbruzza allowed just one hit in an 11-0, five-inning win over Issaquah earlier in the season.
Reese pointed out there could be a silver-ling for Issaquah earning the No. 2 seed.
“If we’re fortunate enough, we wouldn’t face Redmond until the championship,” he said. “They’re in the other half of the bracket. If we’d have won, they would have dropped to third and we would have had the same guy (Abbruzza) again in (the semifinals).”
Issaquah kicks off the first of four games Saturday at Woodinville with its 10 a.m. start against Lake Washington or Woodinville. The No. 1 seed from the KingCo Crown, Inglemoor, faces the fourth seed from the Crest, Skyline at 1 p.m. The No. 2 seed from the Crown, Bothell, faces the No. 3 seed from the Crest, Newport at 4 p.m., and Redmond faces either Lake Washington or Woodinville at 7 p.m.
The double-elimination KingCo 4A tournament continues next week with games on Monday and Tuesday. The championship is slated for Thursday afternoon at Woodinville.
Skyline drops regular-season finale
Skyline dropped its final regular season game Tuesday, 5-4, to Garfield.
The Spartans, who had already locked up the fourth seed in the KingCo playoffs, surrendered four runs in the bottom of the second inning, before rallying to tie the game 4-4 in the top of the fourth.
Garfield scored its game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth, holding on for the win.
Nate Litka was 1-for-2 with two RBI for the Spartans, who enter the playoffs with a 7-9 league and 9-10 overall record. They face the top team from the KingCo Crest, Inglemoor, at 1 p.m., Saturday at Woodinville High School.
Eastlake closes season with a loss
Eastlake ended a difficult season Tuesday afternoon, falling 15-1 to Newport.
Kelby McCorkle provided the Wolves’ only offense in the third inning on an RBI double. Trace Tam Sing had three hits, including two triples and five RBI to lead the Knights.
The loss marked the 13th straight for, which closes its season at 1-15 in league and 1-18 overall.
