Obstacles continued to pile up for the Issaquah fastpitch team. Controversial calls, a tight strike zone and an ejection of head coach Jim Magnuson contributed to a five-run deficit in Friday’s KingCo 4A loser-out game against Lake Washington.
Despite the troubles, the Eagles battled to within one hit of continuing their quest toward a fourth consecutive state tournament.
“They played well and gave a good effort,” said Magnuson, who watched the final three innings from the hill behind the Field No. 6 at Hartman Park in Redmond.
Issaquah’s effort came up just short, however, as the Eagles fell 6-5 to Kangs, ending their season with an 18-7 record.
“There are a lot of seniors,” Magnuson said. “It was a big letdown for them not being able to go to state. We played well throughout the year, we played well enough today to win, and we just, obviously, didn’t very good breaks from the officiating.”
The Eagles put themselves in great position in the top of the seventh. Kim Sekijima led the inning off with an infield single. Brianna Bray then reached base on an error, putting two on with no outs. Sarah Sekijima’s sacrifice bunt placed the runners in scoring position with one out, but two ensuing groundouts to third base ended the game.
Lake Washington’s big break came in the bottom of the third. Kealy McMullen laid down a sacrifice bunt for the Kangs. Issaquah pitcher Mikenzie Voves picked it up and threw to first, hitting the base runner in the back. The ball squirted free, scoring two runs for a 3-1 Lake Washington lead. The runner was ruled to not have interfered with the play.
“It hit the runner,” Magnuson said. “She was clearly in the field of play, that basically was the game right there.”
The Kangs scored three more runs in the inning for a 6-1 advantage.
Tension continued to soar in the bottom of the fourth when the home plate umpire tossed Magnuson. He was warned to stay in the dugout in the third after arguing with the umpire. In the fourth, the umpire abruptly looked to the dugout and asked the Issaquah coach to leave.
“I was keeping quiet and he comes out of nowhere and says ‘you’re out of here,'” Magnuson said.
Issaquah battled through the controversy, scoring one run in the fifth, and three in the sixth, to pull within one. Kim Sekijima had an infield RBI single, Kenna Olsen had a sacrifice fly RBI, and Tanika Ladd added a two-run single.
Bray came in to relieve Voves in the fourth and shut the Kangs down over the next three innings, allowing just two hits. Olsen was 2-for-4 for the Eagles with two RBI, including a bloop single that gave Issaquah a 1-0 lead in the first.
Lake Washington went on to defeat Woodinville, 12-11, and Bothell 4-3, later that day to clinch a 4A state berth. Redmond was the only other KingCo school to advance to the 4A tournament.
