By Matt Phelps
The Liberty Patriots’ baseball team was one of the top ranked teams for the 3A class in Washington state during the preseason. Early last week, the Patriots were rolling with the No. 2 ranking in the state.
Conversely, the Islanders were a young team with just one victory on the year — that is, until the two teams met at Island Crest Park on Friday, April 27.
The third inning saw the Mercer Island bats come alive and the Liberty defense get rocked.
An eight-run third inning by the Islanders, which included two big home runs, gave Mercer Island one of the biggest upsets in the program’s history, 8-4.
During the top of the third, Liberty struck first on the scoreboard with one run crossing home plate.
But the Islanders came back with a vengeance. After scoring the tying run, Mercer Island loaded the bases for the sixth-place hitter, senior Derek Baer. A fastball released from the hand of Patriot pitcher Stuart Wold reversed direction and screamed towards the right field fence as Baer connected.
“He just got a fastball and hit a shot,” said Mercer Island baseball head coach Doug Williams. “It was just a line drive and it came right at the right time.”
The ball climbed and passed by the electronic score board on its way out of the park for a grand slam home run.
Baer’s shot rattled the Patriots as the next two Islander hitters got on base before Mercer Island starting pitcher Sam Selby stepped to the plate. The senior nearly duplicated Baer’s feat, sending a rocket over the fence for a three-run home run and a seven-run lead. The blast for Selby was his second home run in as many games.
“He just did the exact same thing,” said Williams. “It was a great inning for us.”
Selby continued to nibble at the corners and earn outs when he needed it while on the mound.
Islander Hunter Beaty went 2-for-4 with a run scored and KennyKim got on base every time he went to the plate.
Selby got his team to the fifth inning, but gave up another run during the fourth. Selby’s effort gave way to Aaron Locke, who pitched perfect sixth and seventh innings to complete the upset victory. The win came via strong pitching, as Selby and Locke had to deal with three errors behind them in the field while scattering 10 hits off Liberty bats.
The win came on the heels of a heart-breaking loss April 25 to Newport.
Mercer Island waged a comeback against the Knights but fell short thanks to two errors on defense.
The Islanders initially had the lead in the game with a run in the top of the second inning. But Newport jumped ahead with two runs during the bottom of the second. The Knights collected a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth before Islander pitcher Spencer Slaven-Lazzar took the mound and stopped the outburst, holding the deficit at 5-2. A run in the sixth and then two more in the seventh tied the game for Mercer Island. But Newport would get one more run during the bottom of the seventh to win 6-5.
Leading the way for Mercer Island on offense was Selby with a solo home run, and Baer and Brian Kitamaura each had an RBI.
Mercer Island’s away game against Mount Si Friday was canceled due to rain and was tentatively rescheduled for Tuesday, May 3 (after Reporter deadline). The away game had to be played at Island Crest Park thanks to construction at Mount Si High School. The Islanders also played Issaquah Monday (after Reporter deadline). Mercer Island plays at 4 p.m. today at Bellevue High School and Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Island Crest Park against Sammamish.
