4/3/26

Mercer Island Islanders – 12/16/0
Sammamish Redhawks –   3/5/0

(Bellevue, WA) After a week full of rain, Friday provided a perfect spring night for baseball between two teams that met in the 3A KingCo Tournament a year ago. The Sammamish Redhawks won 3-1 over the Mercer Island Islanders in the 3A KingCo Quarterfinals last year in their lone meeting last season. This year, the teams will face each other twice in a home-and-home series, and the first iteration of that series took place at Bannerwood Park.

In the first inning, Mercer Island loaded up the bases with two outs, but Theo Molnar pitched out of the jam by forcing a flyout. Sammamish’s Josh Perez reached base with a hit by pitch, and running in his place was Max Paguia. Paguia was driven in by Reid Baum on an RBI single two batters later to put Sammamish in front 1-0. Mercer Island responded in a huge way, with Dash Dahlberg starting the second inning with a walk. Max Viafore singled to put runners at first and second with no outs. Caden Davidson reached on a fielder’s choice, as Dahlberg was thrown out at third. Liam Sirianni knocked a single into left field, and Ethan Nguyen, who was running for Max Viafore, was waved around to go home. The throw from Lincoln Castillo was a perfect one, but Nguyen somehow dodged Josh Perez multiple times at the plate and touched home before the tag got to him, and the game was tied at one. After a groundout, Ewan Shea singled and drove in two runs to give the Islanders a 3-1 lead. Tino Pozzo clobbered a double, which drove in two more runs and gave Mercer Island a 5-1 lead. All nine Islanders came to the plate as part of a five-run second inning.

In the bottom of the second, Mercer Island ace Chase Koehler struck out the side, and the Islanders’ offense went back to work. Caden Davidson reached on a fielder’s choice again and stole second base to put him in scoring position. Liam Sirianni drove him in with a two-out RBI triple as Mercer Island took a 6-1 lead in the top of the third. Sammamish fought back, as in the bottom of the inning, Kolin Jaster drew a walk, and Josh Perez followed up with a single. The Redhawks had runners at second and third with no outs, and after a wild pitch, Jaster took off for home to cut into the deficit. Jack Lansdowne hit a long fly ball to right, and Caden Davidson threw a laser to the plate. Max Paguia was caught in a pickle and attempted to retreat to third base, but Max Viafore zipped the ball over to Dash Dahlberg. Paguia took off for home again as Dahlberg rifled the ball to Koehler, who was covering home, and when he attempted to tag Paguia, the ball squirted out of his glove, and Paguia was safe at home. Mercer Island’s lead was trimmed to 6-3 after the third.

Mercer Island added a run in the fourth as Brady Dolence doubled to lead off the inning and was driven home by Ewan Shea on an RBI single to make it 7-3. In the bottom of the inning, Lincoln Castillo led off with a single for Sammamish but was stranded at second. Sammamish retired Mercer Island in 1-2-3 fashion in the top of the fifth and in the bottom of the inning, Kolin Jaster drew a leadoff walk. On the next at bat, Liam Sirianni fielded a ground ball at short, hit Hugs Aufranc at second for the first out, and he fired it to first for the double play and just like that, Mercer Island held Sammamish scoreless in the bottom half of the inning.

The Islanders offense showed up in a big way again in the sixth, starting with a Liam Sirianni single. Hugs Aufranc reached base after that and Brady Dolence drove in Sirianni with an RBI single. Ewan Shea recorded his fourth single, driving in a run to make it 9-3. Dash Dalhberg had an RBI single to make it 10-3, and with the bases loaded, Sammamish walked in another run to make it 11-3 as Mercer Island had a four-run inning and for the second time in the game brought all nine batters to the plate in a single inning. Sammamish had runners on at first and second, but Chase Koehler sat down three Redhawks on strikes in his final inning of work. Mercer Island added a run at the top of the seventh, as Riley Anderson entered the game and drove in Liam Sirianni on an RBI single to make it 12-3. Brady Dolence came on the mound in the bottom of the seventh for Mercer Island and struck out the side to give the Islanders a 12-3 victory.

The Sumner Holiday Inn Express Game MVP was about as tough a decision as it gets, as seemingly there was a case for almost all of the Mercer Island team for Game MVP honors. Ultimately, Brady Dolence got the nod as Game MVP with his three runs scored, a double, a single, getting hit by two pitches, striking out the side in the seventh, and his stellar defense at first base for the first six innings gave him the edge. Ewan Shea was an extremely close second, going 4-4, with four singles and four RBI, with two runs scored. Chase Koehler was in the mix as well, going six innings, recording nine strikeouts, including two separate innings of three strikeouts, and limiting the Sammamish bats that have been hot to start the season.

Sammamish’s Josh Perez did a good job getting on base, Lincoln Castillo had a pair of singles, and Max Paguia was a wizard on the basepaths, including his outstanding play to evade the tag in the third inning.

Mercer Island improves to 5-3 on the season and 2-2 in KingCo action. They are tied for third with Liberty (Renton), who they defeated on Monday, 5-2. The Islanders have the weekend off before hosting Sammamish on Monday.

Sammamish’s six-game win streak comes to an end as the Redhawks are now 6-2 on the season and sit in second place at 3-1 in the KingCo. The Redhawks return to action tomorrow against Interlake in the second game of the Crossroads Cup.

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Game Highlights

Ethan Nguyen Somehow Avoids The Tag At The Plate

Sammamish’s Reid Baum Gives Redhawks The First Inning Lead

Mercer Island’s Tino Pozzo’s 2 RBI Double

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