5/8/25
Sammamish Redhawks – 3/7/2
Mercer Island Islanders – 1/7/1
(Bellevue, WA) The KingCo 3A Baseball Tournament rolled along with another loser out battle between the five-seed Sammamish Redhawks and the four-seed Mercer Island Islanders. The winner of the game will face the number one seed, Inglemoor, on Saturday at 7 PM in the KingCo Semifinals.
The first two innings were filled with great defense from both sides. Mercer Island had runners on second and third with two outs and attempted to steal home. Sammamish’s Dayne Castillo saw it in time and threw it right on the money for his catcher, Josh Perez, to tag the runner and keep the game tied at zero.
In the top of the third, the Redhawks’ Ozzy Turner drew a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball, and was driven home by Kolin Jaster on an RBI double to take a 1-0 lead. After a pair of flyouts, the Redhawks had Dayne Castillo at the plate, and he singled to left. Mercer Island’s Quinn Harper threw a laser to the plate, and Ethan Nguyen tagged the runner to end the top half of the inning.
Mercer Island had runners at second and third with just one out in the bottom of the third, and Sammamish brought in the infield. A groundball went to shortstop, Jack Lansdowne fielded it cleanly and sent it to Josh Perez, who tagged the runner out at the plate to keep the game at 1-0 with Sammamish leading. Mercer Island loaded up the bases with two outs but flew out to center to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Mercer Island’s Quinn Harper would get an RBI single to drive in James Mangold to tie the game at one apiece. The Islanders had runners at second and third with two outs, but Dayne Castillo recorded his fourth strikeout of the game and kept the game tied 1-1 through four innings. Kolin Jaster doubled in the top of the fifth for Sammamish and advanced to third, where Josh Perez flew out to left but drove in Jaster to give Sammamish a 2-1 lead on the sacrifice fly.
The sixth inning saw Sammamish get runners on first and second with two outs, but Will Turba came in for Mercer Island and quickly got the third out. In the bottom of the sixth, Dayne Castillo recorded back-to-back strikeouts to begin that half of the inning. Brady Riffle came off the bench for Mercer Island and singled. Then Liam Sirianni singled, and both baserunners moved to second and third. Castillo, with his back against the wall again, delivered his third strikeout of the inning and kept Sammamish in the lead at 2-1 going into the final inning.
Ozzy Turner was hit by a pitch on the first pitch of the seventh, and Reid Baum drew a walk for the Redhawks. Dayne Castillo this time did damage with the bat in his hands, as he hit a grounder to the left side of the infield and hustled down the line to reach first safely and drive in an insurance run to make it 3-1, Sammamish in the lead. Mercer Island got the final out and trailed by two heading to the bottom of the inning. Hugs Aufranc got a single with two outs after a pair of groundouts for the Islanders. Gabe Lopez was up at the plate, representing the tying run, but Dayne Castillo recorded his eighth strikeout of the night to give Sammamish the 3-1 victory.
Sammamish is now 18-3 on the season and will face the number one seed, Inglemoor, on Saturday at 7 PM, which will be streamed on the Eli Sports Network. Mercer Island drops to 7-14 on the season as their season comes to a close.
The Thorbeckes Game MVP was a pretty easy decision, as it went to Sammamish’s Dayne Castillo. Castillo was tremendous on the mound, throwing a complete game with eight strikeouts, while also singling twice with an RBI.
Click here for the full game replay (Subscription Required).
Game Highlights
Sammamish Uses Great Defense To Get Second Out Of The Third
Mercer Island’s Quinn Harper With RBI Single
Dayne Castillo With The RBI Single To Add Insurance Run For Sammamish
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