Mount Baker Survives Scare in 1A Quarterfinals

• Mount Baker 8, Cascade Christian 7

RICHLAND – It took a few innings, but the Mountaineers found their offensive groove in the bottom of the third when senior Ava Jeretzky parked a 1-0 pitch over the right-center field fence for a three-run homerun, which gave Mount Baker a 4-2 lead.

Senior shortstop Lauren Valum followed with a walk, and sophomore Zaida Haynes drove her in with a double. Haynes then scored on an error and Mount Baker led 6-2 through three innings.

The Cougars were able to hang around, and chip away at the Mountie lead by scoring twice in the fifth inning.

Mount Baker scored twice more in the bottom of the sixth on RBI singles from junior Gracie Zender and Valum. They ended up being extremely important as the Cascade Christian bats heated up in the seventh inning and the Cougars pushed across three runs, but a heads-up play in the middle of the infield resulted in the final out as a Cascade Christian runner was tagged while trying to get back to second base, and that ended the game.

The win vaulted the Mountaineers into the semifinals of the 1A state tournament, and they will face Seton Catholic at 9:00 am for a chance to reach the state championship game.

W: Jeretzky (17-4)

MB: Jeretzky 2-3, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, R, BB; Cohn 1-3, 2 R, BB; Maloley 1-2, 2B, R, SB; Zender 1-4, RBI, R; Valum 1-3, RBI, R, BB, SB; Haynes 1-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB; Rathjen 1-3; Welters 1-3, R, SB.