Rockers fall to Maple Valley in title game
Published 9:51 am Tuesday, August 11, 2015
The Mercer Island Rockers hoped things would be different against Maple Valley the third time around. After meeting in the Puget Sound Senior Coed League title game the previous two years, the Rockers were hungry for a change of fortune. But Mercer Island couldn’t beat Maple Valley during the regular season, and the tournament final proved no different.
Scoring eight runs in its final two innings at the plate of the Puget Sound Senior Coed softball championship, Maple Valley erased a two-run deficit to pull away for an 11-5 win over Mercer Island Thursday, Aug. 6 in Federal Way. It marked the third consecutive year Maple Valley topped the Rockers for the league crown.
For Rockers coach Alan Anderson, it was an all-too-familiar end for his team.
“My feeling is if Maple Valley and [Mercer Island] played flawless ball, they’re about two runs better than we are,” Anderson said. “Maple Valley is the team to beat and has been for five years.”
Mercer Island opened the tournament Tuesday, Aug. 4 with a 25-12 win over Kent, a game that saw the Rockers “max out” in the first six innings, or reach the league-mandated ceiling for runs scored before having to switch over. Eight of the Rockers’ 13 batters finished the contest perfect at the plate.
“We were just hitting the ball so well all the way down the lineup,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately, the tournament didn’t stop then.”
The next matchup against Sumner proved much closer, with the Rockers pulling out a 14-12 victory to make the championship round.
Both Mercer Island and Maple Valley brought their best to the final, with the contest remaining tight through five innings of championship play. Maple Valley led 3-2 after three innings, before Mercer Island scored three unanswered runs to take a 5-3 advantage after the fifth.
But Maple Valley broke the game open in the final two frames, scoring five runs in the sixth inning to reclaim the lead for good. Maple Valley held Mercer Island scoreless the rest of the way while tacking on another three runs for good measure.
“It was just a very well-played, good game. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong end of the score,” Anderson said.
Mercer Island finished its season with a 9-2 record to win the ‘B’ division, and finished with the second-best record in the league.
