Pitching Dominates KingCo 3A Openers

With aces on the mound for many of the league's teams on Monday, pitching was the story. The four losing teams combined to score just five runs, while only one team scored more than five runs. On to the recaps...

Mount Si 5, Bellevue 1 - The defending KingCo 3A and state champions picked up where they left off, beating Bellevue 5-1. Staff ace and Santa Clara signee Reece Karalus allowed just an unearned run and struck out 11 Wolverines, going the distance on 104 pitches. He also added two doubles and scored two of the Wildcat five runs. Mount Si used four consecutive doubles in the top of the seventh to break open a 1-0 game and give them the opening day victory. For Bellevue, Drew Quinlan pitched well in defeat, allowing just four hits and a run in five solid innings. Nolan Watson added a double for one of the two Wolverine hits.

LW 8, Sammamish 1 - Junior Nick Johnson scattered 7 hits in a complete game victory, while senior Theo Alexander homered and drove in 3 as the Kangs started league play 1-0 with an 8-1 win over Sammamish. Johnson didn't walk a single batter and struck out 7, needing just 86 pitches to get through seven innings. Four Kangs (Victor Mayorquin, Shawn Gray, Jeremy Parkhurst, Alac Wong) had two hits a piece, with Parkhurst and Mayorquin collecting doubles and Wong driving in two runs. Senior Corey Scheppe had two of the Totems seven hits and scored the lone Sammamish run.

Juanita 3, Mercer Island 1 - Taylor Dantini, Ty Eng and Sean Brennan combined to 3-hit the Islanders as Juanita upended MI, 3-1. Dantini picked up the win, allowing just 2 hits and a run over four solid innings. Eng and Brennan took care of the rest, with Brennan striking out the final batter of the game with the bases loaded in the seventh. The Rebels young lineup collected eight hits against Mercer Island starter Hunter Goldberg, with sophomore Michael Petter going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Fellow sophomore Brad Close had 2 hits as well for Juanita, who is looking to return to the playoffs in 2012. Matt Orehek had two hits and an RBI for the Islanders, who will look to bounce back against Mount Si on Wednesday.

Interlake 3, Liberty 2 - The Saints used a three-run sixth inning to sneak past Liberty, 3-2. Liberty starting pitcher Ben Wessel was cruising, but ended up being undone by some shaky Patriot defense. Liberty loaded the bases in the seventh, but left the tying run stranded at second base to end the game. Wessel took the loss despite allowing just 4 hits and striking out 7 in six strong innings. Junior Austin Strother pitched 4 1/3 shutout innings before giving way to Nate Wehner, who earned the win allowing 2 runs in the final 2 2/3 innings. Henry Lin was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Interlake, while Blake Reeve doubled and drove in a run for the Pats.