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Sammamish one win away from state berth – Baseball

May 17th, 2010 at Mon, 17th, 2010 at 11:59 am by Joel Willits

Here’s a roundup of the KingCo 3A baseball tournament. Sammamish was definitely the surprise of the tournament, going 3-1 and eliminating Liberty, Mount Si and Bellevue to earn the right to play O’Dea tomorrow for a state berth. If they win tomorrow, they’ll clinch a state appearance – with a record of 10 games under .500.

Sammamish on the verge of a state berth
The Sammamish Totems are on the verge of clinching a state berth after finishing the regular season with just three conference victories.

After knocking off Liberty in the opening round of the KingCo 3A tournament, the Totems (6-17) lost to eventual-champion Mercer Island in the semifinals – then won two-straight games to reach Tuesday’s state play-in game against O’Dea of the Metro League.

After a 10-0 loss to the Islanders Sammamish rallied to beat Mount Si (17-6) 2-1 in a nail-biter on Saturday. Rick Teegarden pitched seven superb innings, allowing just three hits and no runs with six strikeouts. Brett Berkey and Aaron Lawrenson each drove in runs to eliminate the Wildcats, who finished the regular season tied for the conference lead.

In Saturday’s second game, Berkey and Chris Strain each provided five RBI as the Totems thumped Bellevue 15-6.

Berkey hit a triple and had two stolen bases while Strain added a triple and a home run. Paul Heywood picked up the win for the Totems. With the victory, Sammamish plays O’Dea Tuesday for a state berth. The Irish (16-8) creamed Nathan Hale 18-1 Saturday to reach Tuesday’s play-in game.

KingCo Championship (Friday)
Mercer Island 4, Bellevue 3
Mike Potoshnik scored on a passed ball in the eighth inning to give Mercer Island a 4-3 win over Bellevue in the KingCo 3A championship game.

Potoshnik hit a leadoff double in the eighth and Cameron Ogard moved Potoshnik over to third with a bunt single to set up the winning run.

Bellevue led the game until the bottom of the fifth. After Mercer Island tied it up, the Islanders brought in pitcher Willy Reel in relief. Reel retired all nine batters he faced to get the win.

Mercer Island (17-6) clinched a state berth with the win.

FINAL TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Tuesday, May 11
Game 1 – Sammamish 4, Liberty 1
Game 2 – Bellevue 5, Juanita 4

Thursday, May 13
Game 3 – Mercer Island 10, Sammamish 0
Game 4 – Bellevue 12, Mount Si 5

Friday, May 14
Game 5 – 7 p.m. – Mercer Island 4, Bellevue 3 (Mercer Island is KingCo champion at 17-6, heads to state)

Saturday, May 15
Game 6 – 4 p.m. – Sammamish 2, Mount Si 1
(Mount Si eliminated, finishes season 17-6)
Game 7 – 7 p.m. – Sammamish 15, Bellevue 6 (Bellevue finishes season 7-13; Sammamish plays O’Dea Tuesday in winner-to-state game)

I'm the sports writer at the Bellevue Reporter newspaper. On this blog you'll find extra bits and pieces to stories I've written, observations on events in our area, and a behind the scenes look at what it takes to bring a story together. I'll field questions here, and maybe even ask a few too. I'm a 2007 graduate of the journalism program at Eastern Washington University. Prior to joining the Reporter, I worked at USA Hockey Magazine and did radio work with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox AAA baseball team. When I'm not busy covering the happenings in Bellevue, I enjoy playing hockey, watching sports and spending time with my family. You can also follow me on Twitter or you can send me an email.

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