By Neil Pierson
Lakeside Recovery’s Matt Sinatro fouls off a pitch during Lakeside Recovery’s 1-0 loss to Phiten Legion at Issaquah High School. Sinatro, a senior at Skyline High, will play collegiate baseball next year at the University of San Francisco.

Kyle Gruber hasn’t played varsity baseball for Skyline High School yet, but if he keeps doing what he did June 13, coach Chris Tamminen won’t be able to hold him back.

Gruber needed only 75 pitches to throw a complete-game one-hitter, leading Lakeside Recovery to a 5-0 victory against the West Seattle Indians in a Double-A American Legion game at Skyline.

Gruber didn’t try out for high-school ball as a freshman, but he showed what he’s capable of this spring for the Spartans’ junior varsity team. Tamminen, who coaches Lakeside Recovery and the Skyline varsity team, has been impressed.

“He’ll be a junior next year, so he’ll maybe get a chance to play varsity,” Tamminen said. “We’ll see — you never know whether kids get better or stay the same. He has a good demeanor out there, though, and he competes, so I like to see that.”

The only thing that kept Gruber from a no-hitter was a fourth-inning double. He struck out five batters, walked one and hit one. Along with an above-average fastball, Gruber features a pitch not typically seen from teenagers — a knuckle curve.

“My brother started throwing it, and then he taught me, so I just kept throwing it and I developed,” Gruber said.

Lakeside gave Gruber all the offensive support he’d need in the second inning. Colin Huber drilled a two-out double to right field, scoring Matt Sarkozy and Jake Partlow.

Sarkozy padded the lead an inning later with a two-run triple, then slid into home plate and knocked the ball away from West Seattle’s catcher for the game’s final run.

Sarkozy, a junior-to-be at Issaquah High School, guessed correctly on his big hit.

“It was a 1-2 count, and I knew he was going to throw me something off-speed,” Sarkozy said. “I was waiting back and he hung a curveball, and I hit it out to the left-field gap.”

Lakeside played strong defense behind Gruber, committing only one error. Catcher Jonathan Criest threw out two would-be base stealers.

The squad’s all-around play has improved recently, and its record has improved to 8-8 following a four-game winning streak.

“We just kind of fixed some stuff up,” Sarkozy said. “We’re hitting better and making better decisions, and our pitching has gotten a lot better.”

Lakeside’s roster is comprised of Skyline, Issaquah and Newport students, so it’s taken time to develop chemistry. That and other distractions, like spring football drills and graduation, have caused a lot of fluctuations in Tamminen’s lineup.

“I think we’re getting an idea. We’re getting a little better,” the coach said. “We have an idea just as far as getting our batting order and getting guys that haven’t pitched that much for school ball pitching for us, because we know we’ve got to rely on them playing a bunch of games.”

A couple base-running errors kept Lakeside from adding more runs against West Seattle, and that’ll be a focus as the team tries to earn a district-tournament berth in late July.

“That can end up killing you, so hopefully we clean those up,” Tamminen said. “The kids are just being a little overaggressive trying to make something happen.”

Like their teammates, Sarkozy and Gruber hope playing with a Legion team during the summer will help their chances with their respective high schools in 2014.

I need to “get better at hitting and work on going to the opposite field, especially when I’m down in the count,” Sarkozy said, “and then work on my throwing, being able to be a sure-thing first baseman defensively.”

“Hopefully, next year I’ll make varsity,” Gruber said. “I need to gain some muscle and start working out.”

YAKIMA — There was some interesting karma — or whatever you might want to call it — going on in the championship game of the All-State Baseball Series on June 9. Good manners translated into good deeds at the plate, and an unexpected turn of luck led to a stellar pitching display.

Odd things, big results.

By Lillian O’Rorke
Justin Vernia (left), Issaquah High School senior, is safe on first base in a game April 10 against Redmond. He hit two doubles, scoring four runs in a 7-6 victory.

Marysville-Pilchuck’s Kyle Nobach and Issaquah’s Justin Vernia swept the individual awards, and led Team Baker’s stout pitching and defense to a 7-2 victory against Team Rainier in the title game of the annual senior all-star baseball weekend at Davis Field.

Nobach batted leadoff June 8 and scored twice and drove in a run while helping Baker defeat Adams, 9-3, to earn a spot in the championship game. At the event’s banquet that evening, he was the only player among 72 to wear a tie — a noncasual novelty that was pointed out to everyone.

“My grandma made me do it,” he smiled. “She thought it was the right thing to do.”

On June 9, Nobach led off the game with a double, sparking a four-run first inning, singled in the second and scored in the fourth. For his top-of-the-order performance, Nobach was named the All-State offensive MVP.

Vernia wasn’t in the All-State Series when invitations went out early in June. He was ranked sixth out of his feeder games and with only the top five getting invites, the Issaquah pitcher was made the first alternate. On June 6, a Woodinville player was forced to drop out, and Vernia got a call at school.

“I’m pretty happy about getting that call now,” he said. “This worked out well.”

Consider Team Baker happy about that call, too.

Vernia struck out the side in the first inning, didn’t allow a hit for the first three innings, and finished with four scoreless frames and six strikeouts. He left with a 6-0 lead and was named the All-State defensive MVP.

“I knew I was going four innings, so I was excited about striking out the side to start,” he said. “I had a nice change-up today, and my fastball and curve were OK. To pitch this well against hitters as good as these guys — it couldn’t have gone better.”

This spring, the 5-foot-7 Strawn led the Skyline Spartans to their first undefeated KingCo Conference season. The central midfielder supplied a single-season school record for points with his 11 goals and 13 assists, and it helped him lock up an NCAA Division II collegiate scholarship offer from Saint Martin’s University in Lacey.

Skyline coach Don Braman said Strawn acted as a magnet, pulling defenders to him and opening up spaces for his teammates to exploit.

“The things that his teammates were able to do around him made Kaleb effective in attacking through the middle of the field,” Braman said. “Kaleb was great at asserting himself in game situations when we needed him most.”

Strawn, a first-team all-league choice and a Seattle Times all-area pick, helped the Spartans win 11 consecutive games during the 2013 season. They saw that streak end with a 4-0 loss to Inglemoor in the conference-title match, and their playoff run ended prematurely with a 1-0 loss to Camas in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs, but there was plenty for the team to celebrate.

In Strawn’s mind, going 10-0 in conference play — the first time any KingCo squad had done it since 2005 — topped the list of accomplishments.

“Winning every game is tough, and not many teams can do it,” he said. “That’s probably one of the best memories, just all our teammates, working together and having a really good time and working really hard for the cause. It was really good to watch.”

A year-round player with Eastside FC, Strawn had developed a solid reputation and had options when it came to play college soccer. He had interest from multiple schools in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, but felt Saint Martin’s was the right place.

“They came and saw me through a couple games, a couple tournaments out of state and such,” Strawn said. “I was looking for a nice place to go, and I wanted to stay in-state, so the opportunity arose and I just took it.”

At Saint Martin’s, Strawn will join a rebuilding program. The Saints finished 3-15 last year, although their coach, Rob Walker, has more than 30 years of experience in the sport and led them to the 2009 conference championship.

Playing with Eastside FC helped raise Strawn’s profile, he said.

“One of the benefits is the exposure you get from going out of state — like we’re going to Hawaii in a week or two,” he said.

Perhaps the most memorable game for Skyline this spring was an April 19 date against visiting Garfield. The Bulldogs lit a fire under the Spartans — perhaps unintentionally.

“They scored the first goal and their player goes and celebrates in front of our fans,” Strawn explained. “That kind of makes everyone a little mad, so our team, they just put their head down and got to it.”

Skyline responded with five straight goals en route to a blowout victory. Strawn had a spectacular goal, Braman said, splitting two defenders before launching a 35-yard rocket.

“That’s one that all of his teammates talk about,” the coach said, “and it was really a statement that, ‘You guys might have scored first, but we are here to dominate.’”

Strawn clearly established himself as a veteran leader for Skyline, but he didn’t do it through intimidation or emotional pleas.

“He is a quiet yet assertive leader,” Braman said. “His teammates hear him when he knows he needs to be heard. He’s the kind of leader that says, ‘Play like I’m playing and, collectively, we’ll be a better team.’”

Strawn isn’t the first member of his family to don the green and white of Skyline, nor will he be the last. His older brother, Travis, was a 2011 graduate, and his younger brother, Garrett, will be a junior next season.

Both of Kaleb’s parents were soccer players as well.

“It’s kind of like a tradition,” he said. “I really just couldn’t see myself doing anything else.”

Contributed
Katie Bucy, Skyline High School junior, races with the ball down the field with her Washington State team during one of the games at the U.S. Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament held May 25-26 in Philadelphia.

Some say the third time is the charm. For Katie Bucy, it was.

The Skyline High School junior had been to the U.S. Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament twice before, but when she and her team outscored a New Hampshire/Vermont regional squad, 9-6, to win the title May 26, it was a first.

“It’s cool coming back from that and finally realizing what you’ve done,” Bucy said after returning from the tournament in Philadelphia.

“It’s amazing. It’s actually kind of shocking,” she added. “The East Coast is known for lacrosse, and we’re from Washington.”

After tryouts in March, Bucy was selected to join 21 other high school girls from the state to represent Washington at the National Tournament, where she led with three goals in the championship game. During the two-day competition, Washington swept through the Under 19 Mohawk Division to finish with a 4-0-1 record.

The girls got off to a good start May 25 with a 14-7 victory over Pittsburgh. They would have two more games that day, including a 10-10 tie with Virginia and a 15-4 victory against Orange County/L.A.

“It was a very long day, and going from Washington weather and going to that weather, it was rainy at first, but started to get hotter and sweatier,” Bucy said.

The girls were back out on the grass early the next morning for a 7 a.m. game against Northern California, which she added, felt like 4 a.m. for both West Coast teams. Washington prevailed, 19-3.

The victory, however, didn’t secure a spot in the championship game. Washington was tied with Virginia again, this time for points-scored against. Back at the hotel later that day, the girls found out the decision then went to points-scored for, and they had finally silenced Virginia.

“I just remember we all ran out into the hall,” Bucy said.  “We were screaming and jumping around. It was so exciting.”

Before too long, Washington was back out on the field for it’s final match.

Two of the three points scored by Bucy were penalty shots. Facing the opposing goalie, Bucy said she heard her coach telling her to run the ball in. Instead, she took one step and shot the ball in.

“I remember I looked over at my coach and she was like, ‘Woohoo!’

“I definitely wasn’t the star of that game,” she added. “We got on the field and played our game. It was so amazing. Our goalie is so good. It was crazy.”

The 17-year-old began playing lacrosse in sixth grade after watching her older brother’s games.

“I would always get really into it,” she said. “I would be on the sideline cheering him on and not able to sit still.”

Bucy started out as midfielder, but quickly switched to the attack position because, she said, she simply likes shooting.

“I’ve always been really into sports. I played soccer and basketball and volleyball, and I never got that thrill from playing one sport until lacrosse,” she added. “I always knew that it was the sport for me.”

After the first few games, her mother Marit Bucy knew as well that it was the sport for her daughter.

“All the girls are trying to figure it out, how to hold the ball and run. And then, we remember a game when she just picked up the ball and ran all the way down the field and scored,” Marit said. Amazed at how their daughter zig-zagged down the field, she and her husband glanced at the coaches. “They just looked at each other like, ‘Oh my god, she gets it.’”

Marit couldn’t make it to Philadelphia, so instead, using her daughter’s account, she logged onto Twitter for the first time to follow Washington’s progress.

“It was very exciting to watch those come in,” she said regarding tweets about the game. “This was a team effort. It was not just Katie.”

Marit explained that it was great to read her daughter’s name in the tweets, but that she also enjoyed learning about the triumphs of the other players, some of which her daughter has played with for years.

The two time All-Conference attacker also plays for the Issaquah School District Women’s Lacrosse club team, for which this season she put up 35 goals, 20 assists and caused five turnovers. Bucy was joined on the Washington U19 national champion team this year by fellow Issaquah players Ashley Blanton, from Eastside Catholic High School, and Issaquah High School’s Jordan Hepperle and Suzy Emerson.

On the Web

Learn more about the local team at

www.isdgirlslacrosse.com.

Jake Rosen had barely pitched since his Newport High School baseball team ended its season in late April, but that didn’t stop him from putting together a great outing June 6.

Rosen shut out Phiten Legion of Bellevue through five innings, but Phiten scored a run in the sixth off reliever Clayton Huber to top Lakeside Recovery, 1-0, in a Senior American Legion contest at Issaquah High School.

By Neil Pierson
Lakeside Recovery’s Jake Rosen pitches during the June 6 Senior American Legion baseball game against Phiten Legion at Issaquah High School. Rosen allowed three hits and no runs in five innings, but Lakeside Recovery lost, 1-0.

Lakeside Recovery coach Rob Reese said he liked what he saw from Rosen, who allowed three hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

“He hasn’t pitched much because Newport, they’ve been out of it for a while, so he’s only had, like, three innings in a month,” Reese said. “Five innings is about where he was good to go today, and then he gave us five shutout innings. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

Lakeside Recovery entered the game with five straight wins, and its offense had been red-hot during the streak, averaging more than eight runs per outing. The bats were silenced against Phiten, though, as they managed only three hits and struck out eight times.

Lakeside Recovery’s best scoring chance came in the bottom of the first inning after Matt Sinatro dropped a leadoff double down the left-field line. However, Sinatro was thrown out trying to steal third base, and Phiten ended the threat when Lakeside Recovery’s Justin Vernia grounded into a double play.

Reese credited Phiten’s pitcher with a solid outing, and said Lakeside Recovery didn’t accomplish the type of small-ball tasks that make a difference in a close game.

“We had our shot in the first inning,” Reese said. “We made a base-running error, and we had our three, four hitters up with a guy in scoring position, and we just didn’t get him in. That was the end of our offense today.

“Who knows, if we get two or three runs in the first, it changes the whole game.”

Instead, Rosen was forced to hold Phiten at bay. He dodged a bullet in the third when a base-running error helped squash a rally, and he stranded men in scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings.

After finishing third last season at the American Legion World Series in North Carolina, Lakeside Recovery has started 2013 well with a 5-2 record. Reese credits the team’s depth and versatility.

“We’ve got a lot of good players,” the coach said. “It’s a tough time of the year right now for everybody with end-of-the-year school and finals, and football camps and all that, so it’s just a matter of getting everybody here and getting everybody on the same page.”

Sinatro, a senior at Skyline High School, may be one of the team’s best players from his shortstop position. He’ll play collegiate baseball next year at the University of San Francisco. He was chosen to play in Washington’s all-state game over the weekend, causing him to miss a few of Lakeside Recovery’s games.

“He’s probably one of the best shortstops around,” Reese said. “He’s just a great player.”

Up next

This week, Lakeside Recovery hosts Sedro-Woolley at Issaquah High (6 p.m. June 13), and travels to Sedro-Woolley for a June 15 doubleheader starting at noon. Next week, Lakeside Recovery has home games at Newport High against Phiten and Wollochet Baseball Club of Gig Harbor.

After a weekend in which the team struggled to find speed, Brown earned just enough preliminary points to make it to the finals.

By Greg Farrar
Local hydroplane driver Kip Brown returns to the pits in the 5-litre class E-1 Peters & May after winning his last race of the day at the 2012 Tastin’ N Racin’ regatta on Lake Sammamish.

The 95 Spirit of Qatar placed fourth out of seven teams at the June 1 event on Folsom Lake.

The team will now head back to Preston to get the boat ready for competition in Madison, Ind., in July.

Learn more at www.ourgangracing.com.

Boat registrations can be renewed online at the Department of Licensing website or in person at a neighborhood vehicle licensing office, according to a press release. Those who choose to renew at an office should make sure to note the registration number on the bow of the boat or watercraft and take that information to the office.

Due to budget cuts, the department discontinued paper renewal notices for boats in 2010 and instead offered boat owners the opportunity to sign up to receive email renewal reminders. It’s too late to sign up for an email renewal reminder for this year, but boat owners can sign up online at www.dol.wa.gov to receive renewal reminders by email in the future.

Two teams from Preston were among the champions. The Eastside FC Boys 94 Red team and the Eastside FC Girls 95 Red team qualified to join more than 240 of the West’s top teams as they compete for the regional title.

Eastside FC Girls 95 Red will compete in the 17-and-under age division, while Eastside FC Boys 94 Red will play in the 18-and-under age division.

Regional winners will earn a spot in the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships July 22-28 in Kansas.

The purpose of the meeting is to issue contract notices for athletic field renovation projects at Maywood and Pink Lake middle schools.

The meeting is open to the public and is expected to last five minutes. No other business will be handled.

Note: Only athletes from Issaquah, Liberty and Skyline are listed.

Baseball

All KingCo 3A/2A

First team

-UTL Lorin Archibald, Jr., Liberty

Second team

-1B Darren Peterson, Sr., Liberty

Honorable mention

-Liberty — Garrett Hughes, Jalen Mano, Luke Oman, George Suddock

Softball

All KingCo 4A

First team

-OF Charlotte Zhao, Sr., Skyline

Second team

-DH Heather Benjamin, Sr., Issaquah