Weber scores a walk-off, Southridge baseball headed to the ‘ship

Very little about the game was pretty, but only a couple of things mattered for the Southridge High School baseball team on Friday when Noah Weber crossed the plate after a walk-off passed ball.

The Suns had beaten Mercer Island 5-4, and would be playing in the 3A state title game Saturday.

“It’s why we start in January, even December and November, it’s your early practice and your early work,” Southridge coach Tim Sanders said. “You play the game to get to this game. The boys have grinded like crazy and we just found a way.”

The Suns, who finished third in last year’s state tourney, will play the winner of Edmonds-Woodway and Gig Harbor at 7 p.m. at Safeco Field in their second state championship game in school history. In 2004, they won the 4A title.

“I think we’ve been in a lot of tight games this year, and I think that helped us out a lot, especially for this game to handle the pressure and handle the nerves out there,” said senior Mason Martin, who doubled and walked three times.

For Southridge, a scrappy team that won the Mid-Columbia Conference title despite dropping two league games, and eventually reached the state semifinals after losing to Kamiakin in the bi-district championship game, it seemed fitting that Weber scored the run that gave them the title shot.

“He’s our emotional leader and there’s no question about it,” Sanders said. “That dude grinds, and he’s the first one out to practice, and he goes out and fills up the water every day. He’s the guy that comes to me and says ‘Sanders, the guys are poopy, we’ve gotta do this.’

“For him to score that deal there ... it’s really cool for him.”

Jake Harvey made just his second start of the season for Southridge, and went 6 1/3 innings while giving up four runs on six hits. Sanders went to Harvey in the big game because of his ability to compete, which is exactly what the junior displayed.

“I feel like I did pretty well, could have done better, cut down on the walks (allowed two),” Harvey said. “But on the other end, we swung it when we needed to and scored more runs than them. That’s all we’re trying to do.”

After joking that several players were in the mix to start Saturday’s championship tilt, Sanders confirmed that junior ace Wyatt Hull, the Mid-Columbia Conference Pitcher of the Year, would get the rock.

Sanders stressed the importance of the basics heading into this game, and they seemed to be what propelled the Suns to the win. They executed just enough situational hitting and made one error compared to Mercer Island’s five.

Southridge seemed poised to crack the game wide open early.

After Harvey set down the side in order in the top of the first, he laid down a bunt that Mercer Island third baseman Greg Fuchs let slip under his glove to lead off the bottom of the frame. Martin then cracked a double to deep center field, and Lane Hailey was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out.

But the momentum quickly dried up when Nick Grade grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, which scored Harvey, and Grant Martson struck out to end the side with just one run on the board.

The Suns would go on to leave 12 runners on base for the day and never hang a crooked number on the board.

“As hitter’s, the mentality in those situations has to be that the pressure is on the pitcher,” Sanders said. “And in big moments like that sometimes we create some monsters in our head and swing at pitches out of the zone.

“But playoff baseball, it’s gonna be tight ballgames, and it’s going to be low-scoring ballgames. It’s always been that way.”

The game went back and forth from there, as Southridge tacked on another run in the second only to have Mercer Island hit three straight singles in the third to tie it at 2-all.

Southridge eventually took a 4-3 lead heading into the final inning, but Mercer Island tied it back up when Greg Fuchs walked to bring home Justin Ho before Martin, who came on in late relief, got out of a bases loaded, one-out jam.

But the Suns didn’t blink, as No. 8 hitter Casey Proctor led off the bottom of the seventh with an infield single, followed by a bunt base hit by Weber to put two on with no outs. A failed sacrifice bunt caused Martin’s third walk of the day to load the bases for No. 3 hitter Lane Hailey, who didn’t get to swing the bat because Evan Doty’s pitch went to the backstop, allowing Weber to come home for the game winner.

This story was originally published May 26, 2017 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Weber scores a walk-off, Southridge baseball headed to the ‘ship."