Sea-King 3A fastpitch softball: District Mount Si holds on for victory

TUKWILA — A great throw made Mount Si's great season that much sweeter.

Tabitha Albertson's pinpoint throw from shallow left field nailed pinch-runner Melissa Thompson on a close play at the plate and saved the Wildcats' 2-1, eight-inning victory over Issaquah in yesterday's championship game of the Sea-King 3A District fastpitch softball tournament at Fort Dent Park.

Mount Si (20-5) advances to the state tournament (SERA Fields, Tacoma, Friday and Saturday) as the No. 1 district qualifier. The Wildcats will be joined by No. 2 Issaquah (19-7), No. 3 Skyline (20-4), No. 4 Liberty (17-7) and No. 5 Seattle Prep (21-3).

Mount Si Coach Larry White views his team's district title as one more surprise in a season of the unexpected.

"We were the team no one expected to do anything," he said. "We only won five games last year. We didn't even make the KingCo tournament, and all the same kids are back. It's been quite a turnaround."

Against Issaquah, Mount Si rallied from a 1-0 deficit when Rachel McNaul singled home Kayla Jayne in the fourth inning.

Then, after Amy Trenkamp doubled in the top of the eighth and later scored on a fielder's choice for a 2-1 Wildcat lead, McNaul found herself on the receiving end of Albertson's laser-guided throw in the bottom of the inning.

"It was amazing," McNaul said. "It couldn't have been a better throw. I've never caught a throw that meant this much."

Kandis Clesson (18-3) picked up her second win of the day, striking out five and walking two after pitching the Wildcats to a 9-3 win over Liberty in the championship semifinals. Mount Si won its previous two meetings with Issaquah this season by 1-0 scores, both also going extra innings.

Kellyn Grote singled and scored on an error in the first for Issaquah's only run. Earlier, the Indians defeated Skyline 6-5 in a semifinal game.

Other games

Skyline 3, Liberty 0 (3rd place) — Remy Kawaguchi, Lisa Teichler and Whitney Stenhoff all hit run-scoring singles and Sarah Losleben struck out nine and walked none while tossing a three-hitter as the Spartans won the district's third-place game.

Earlier, Skyline, the No. 1 KingCo entry, let a 5-1 lead slip away in its semifinal matchup with Issaquah. Three errors helped lead to five Indian runs in Issaquah's 6-5 win.

Seattle Prep 4, Bishop Blanchet 3 (8 innings, 5th place) — A dropped strikeout allowed Amelia Savage to reach first in the eighth, and pinch-runner Alyssa Barker later scored via two errors as the Panthers rallied to win and advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1999.

Jackie Rucinsky batted 3 for 5 for Prep. Teresa Brabant had a bases-loaded triple in the first inning for Blanchet.