Return of the freak show as Tim Lincecum makes pitching debut at Safeco Field
June 19, 2012
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants Cy Young award-winning pitcher and former Liberty High School star, makes his pitching debut at Safeco Field June 16. By Greg Farrar
With their season on the line in a loser-out playoff game in the KingCo tournament, the 2003 Liberty Patriots knew they something had to give. Read more
Tim Lincecum scheduled to face M’s June 16
June 12, 2012
If all goes according to plan, Tim Lincecum, former Liberty High School and University of Washington star and current San Francisco Giant, will face the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field for the first time in his career.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner is having struggles this year, posting a 6.00 earned run average, along with a 2-7 record in his first 13 starts.
The Giants previously visited the Mariners at Safeco during May 2009, but Lincecum pitched the previous day, missing the Mariners series by one day.
The game starts at 7:10 p.m. June 16.
Issaquah School District baseball players drafted
June 12, 2012
Three Issaquah School District baseball players were drafted in last week’s Major League Baseball Amateur player draft.
Skyline High School grad and current Bellevue College pitcher Adrian Sampson was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 166th overall pick in the fifth round. His Bellevue College teammate and Liberty High School grad Ian Parmley was chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays two rounds later in the seventh round with the 235th overall pick.
Skyline senior catcher Jim Sinatro was chosen in the 35th round by the Houston Astros with the 1,059th overall pick.
Issaquah High School baseball falls in state playoffs, 3-1
May 22, 2012
It was an up-and-down year for Issaquah High School baseball in 2012, but a late-season surge vaulted the team into the state tournament for the first time since 2009.
Hoping to ride the hot hand of senior pitcher Brandon Mahovlich, Issaquah’s offense came up short, and the team lost to Puyallup, 3-1, on May 19 at Everett Stadium.
“Puyallup’s a great team,” Issaquah head coach Rob Reese said. “We had our chances, just didn’t get enough runs. They had six hits and two of them were bunts. They clutched up, they had a triple one time and another sac fly. When we got guys on it was always with two outs, it seemed like. We just couldn’t get the run. We couldn’t string enough together.”
Mahovlich struggled early, but managed to give up only one run in the first inning and one run in the second.
Eastside Catholic beats Bishop Blanchet with walk-off homer
May 15, 2012
Eastside Catholic High School defeated Bishop Blanchet in extra innings May 12 to take the Metro Conference championship.
After tying the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Blanchet scored a run in the top of the eighth. Again the team tied it at 4-4 in its half of the inning.
Eastside Catholic starting pitcher and Issaquah native Alex Foley staved off Blanchet one more time, throwing a scoreless frame in the top of the ninth. He was rewarded by his teammate Jeff Bohling hitting a two-run, walk-off home run to end the game with a final score of 6-4.
Rain-soaked Liberty Patriots fall to Mount Si Wildcats
May 1, 2012
Mother Nature parted storm clouds just long enough for Mount Si and Liberty high schools to face off for the second time this season, ending in a Wildcat 4-2 win and a torrential downpour.
The pregame rain forced the conference matchup to be moved from the soggy Mount Si field to the Patriots’ turf ballfield in Renton. But the home-field advantage didn’t help the Patriots, who lost to Mount Si a second time this year on April 25.
It wasn’t until the second inning that any runs went up on the board.
Eastside Catholic pitcher Alex Foley named state athlete of the week
April 24, 2012
Alex Foley, of Issaquah, pitches during a stretch of baseball games earlier this month for Eastside Catholic High School that garnered him a statewide honor from the WIAA. Contributed
Alex Foley, junior baseball player for Eastside Catholic High School, was named WIAA male state athlete of the week for April 1-7.
With an earned-run average of 0.88 and 23 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched, he led his 3A team to three victories against O’Dea, Skyline and Chief Sealth high schools.
Issaquah High School baseball team defeats Roosevelt, 9-0
April 17, 2012
It doesn’t hurt when you score nine runs in the first two innings. It also never hurts when your starting pitcher throws a complete game shutout, and that’s what Issaquah High School senior pitcher Brandon Mahovlich did April 13 as Issaquah defeated Roosevelt, 9-0.
“It makes it a lot easier,” the winning pitcher said. “I can just go out there and throw strikes and not have to worry about it. They can score a couple runs and I can just pitch confidently with a lead.”
And quite a lead it was. Issa-quah jumped straight out of the gates with a two-run homer from senior shortstop Jake Bakamus, and followed that with the next five batters all touching home plate.
Spartans take Eastlake 4-3 in plateau baseball matchup
April 3, 2012
If Sammamish was only allotted one sunny afternoon last week, March 26 was the perfect pick as plateau baseball fans gathered in the sunshine to watch the Skyline High School Spartans edge out the Eastlake High School Wolves, 4-3.
Both teams entered the contest having been successful so far in the beginning of what looks like to be a solid season of league play.
Playing “4A KingCo in any sport is tough, but especially in baseball. There is no game you go into thinking, ‘We have the advantage,’” Skyline coach Chris Tamminen said. “A lot of the teams are right there with each other. Each game is going to be a battle. It’s going to come down to who can play in the clutch.”
The Spartans led 3-0 most of the game by grabbing a run in the second, third and fourth innings.
New rule, bats expected to lower scores, reduce injuries
April 3, 2012
New, stricter bat regulations are forcing producers to make less powerful bats and will greatly affect gameplay on both the college and high school levels.
The regulations require BBCOR bats, short for Batted-Ball Coefficient of Restitution. Though the bats are still aluminum, they are less “springy” and will hit more like wood bats. Permissible bats will feature a BBCOR-certified sticker.
A major problem with the old BESR (ball-exit-speed-ratio) bats was that they would become too powerful once broken in. As fibers within the bats repeatedly came into contact with baseballs, they would break down, become more flexible and surpass levels deemed safe.
“Back in the early days, the best it was going to be was right when you took it out of the wrapper,” Issaquah High School head baseball coach Rob Reese said. “Recently, bats would get more powerful after use.”
