TACOMA — The Montesano Bulldogs’ run at a state championship ended abruptly with a 7-2 quarterfinal loss in the 1A State Tournament on May 19 at Franklin Pierce High School.
The day started well for the Bulldogs as they scored five runs in the eighth inning to down University Prep 5-0 in the opening round Saturday morning.
Bulldogs starter Nate Kloempken allowed a just one hit in picking up the win. The University of Puget Sound-bound senior struck out 14 University Prep batters and allowed a lone infield single in pitching eight innings.
Locked in a scoreless tie heading into extra frames, Monte’s Matt Plato drove in a run with a double to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. After Montesano scratched across two more runs, Payson Parker belted a two-run home run to make it a 5-0 game and secure the victory for the Bulldogs.
Montesano (20-3 overall) wasn’t as fortunate in the afternoon’s semifinal round against Cedar Park Christian.
The Bulldogs grabbed the early lead at 2-0 on a run-scoring double from Plato and an RBI single from Evan Bates in the first inning.
After holding the Eagles scoreless through the first three innings, Monte ran into trouble in the fourth, surrendering the lead after allowing five runs in the frame.
“We got off to a good start, … then it was one of those classic ‘wheels fall off’ innings,” Montesano head coach Mike Osgood said of the disastrous top of the fourth. “It was one of of those letdown innings.”
Monte never recovered, failing to score the rest of the way and falling further behind at 7-2 after the Eagles scored a pair of insurance runs in the fifth.
Osgood reflected on what his current crop of players were able to accomplish after posting a 20-win season and a 24-0 league record over the past two campaigns.
“Overall, this was a really hard-working group that really loved playing baseball,” he said. “They’ve set the bar higher for the program.”
Montesano 000 000 05 — 5 7 1
University Prep 000 000 00 — 0 1 1
WP — Kloempken (8 IP, H, 14 K); LP — Webster (1.1 IP)
Leading Hitters: M — Parker (2R HR), Plato (2B, RBI)
Cedar Park Chr. 000 520 0 — 7 6 0
Montesano 200 000 0 — 2 6 3
WP — Reidy (4 BB, K); LP — Bates (4 IP)
Leading Hitters: M — Plato (2B, RBI), Bates (1B, RBI)
