Three weeks ago, Mercer Island was one loss away from seeing its season end in the KingCo tournament.
Now, the Islanders sit one win away from the program’s first-ever state baseball championship.
Behind a four-run rally in the top of the sixth inning of their 3A state semifinal against Bainbridge, Mercer Island erased a three-run deficit to overtake the Spartans 11-6 Friday at Husky Ballpark. The win advanced the Islanders to their first-ever state title game.
“Today was a culmination of everything we do. That was the best offensive performance we put up in a while,” Islander coach Dominic Woody said. “When you’re talented, and you have the ability, and you’re able to go let it play, good things can happen. And here were are; we’re playing for everything. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Anthony Scalzo kicked off the four-run rally, stepping to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the sixth. With the Spartans leading the Islanders 6-3, Scalzo swung for a bases-clearing triple to tie the game. Two batters later, Noah Hsue collected his fourth hit of the contest off Bainbridge lefty Trent Schulte to bring the go-ahead run home.
“It’s surreal, it’s unbelieveable,” Scalzo said. “I’m just so excited for all these guys. We go to battle everyday and all the hard work is paying off, especially for these seniors. This has never been done before, it’s just awesome to make history for this great community and great high school.”
Hsue finished the game 4-4 at the plate, batting in two runs and drawing an intentional walk in his final at-bat.
“Against left-handed guys, I’ve struggled in the past,” Hsue said. “But I was able to see the ball really well, got some good pitches to hit and got a lot of hits. It was nice.”
Bainbridge drew first blood, scoring off a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning. Mercer Island responded in the top of the third, capitalizing off a Bainbridge fielding error and scoring three runs to go ahead 3-1.
Peter Lopes once again got the start for the Islanders, allowing two earned runs in just over four innings pitched, but saw Bainbridge use two Mercer Island errors in the bottom of the fourth to turn a 3-2 Islander lead into a 5-3 Spartan advantage. Lopes exited shortly after a sacrifice fly from Duncan McCombs gave the Spartans a 6-3 lead.
Will Mansfield kept the Spartan bats in check in just over two innings of relief work from the mound. Entering the game with one on and one out in the bottom of the fifth, Mansfield allowed no hits the rest of the way, walking two and striking out three.
Mercer Island opened the sixth with its first three batters reaching base, leading to Scalzo’s 3-RBI triple. The Islanders loaded the bases again in the top of the seventh, with Scalzo and George Pallis swinging for RBI singles. Jack Smith and Alex Shanks registered sacrifice RBI groundouts to provide the Islanders with a five-run cushion.
As a team, Mercer Island registered 16 hits. Scalzo, finishing 2-4 with four RBI, said even when his team was down late in the game, they never gave up hope. Now, the Islanders find themselves in a position to compete for their first state baseball title.
“We knew the season wasn’t gonna end tonight,” he said. “I’m just so excited for these guys and these seniors. We’re gonna go out tomorrow and play, it’s just an amazing feeling.”
Mercer Island will take on Shorewood for the 3A state baseball championship at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 30 at the University of Washington’s Husky Ballpark.
