Shorewood Clinches Spot in 3A Baseball Regionals

SHORELINE — Henry McAree pitched six shutout innings and the Shorewood offense exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth as the Thunderbirds clinched a berth in the state regionals Tuesday, in the final game at their home field at Shorewood High School.

Shorewood, (20-2) and ranked No. 2 in the Seattle Times Class 3A poll, ran its win streak to 18 games with the 8-1 win over league rival Mountlake Terrace, the longest such streak in the 13-year tenure of head coach Wyatt Tonkin.

Shorewood, the No. 1 seed, will play at 4 p.m. Saturday at Everett Memorial Stadium against Meadowdale in the 3A District 1 title game. Senior Blake Snell (6-0) will get the start for the T-Birds.

McAree improved to 9-1 on the season after throwing 96 pitches, 64 of them strikes. He gave up only two hits and a walk, facing only one batter over the minimum. He finished his day when the T-birds turned a double play in the top of the sixth on a grounder by Hawks’ leadoff hitter Kegan Volpone to second baseman Jeremy Edwards.

McAree threw only four or five curveballs but had his changeup working to perfection.

“I was around the plate a lot,” McAree said. “Good command of off-speed stuff and my fastball.”

Shorewood took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Max Jacobs doubled and Ben Andrews smacked a two-out single off Hawks’ starter Jalen Pahinni.

McAree continued to pitch well, retiring nine batters in a row, until Austin Johnson singled off him in the fourth.

The T-birds finally broke the game open and took pressure off the junior, McAree, by chasing Mountlake Terrace reliever Alec Anderson in the fifth.

Junior Duncan Hendrickson belted a home run to left field to lead off the inning. Connor McKeever ripped a one-out double, and Jacobs followed by slamming a two-run homer to left.

After a two-out single by McAree, Andrews reached on an error and leadoff man Trevor Mitsui was intentionally walked by the Hawks for the third straight time.

The move couldn't stem the Shorewood tide of runs. Cameron Sterne walked with the bases loaded to force in a run and Hendrickson followed with a single that cleared the bases after a mishandling of the ball by the centerfielder.

The Hawks scored a run in the top of the seventh off  McKeever who pitched in relief of McAree, but McKeever struck out Henry Haveman to end the game.

Hendrickson was the offensive star of the game, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, and a single and three RBI.

“It was frustrating,” Hendrickson said of the 10 runners the T-birds left stranded, “but we picked it up later.”

Hendrickson said he hit a high hanging curveball for the home run with two strikes on him.

“I was picking it up good today,” he said.

With Mitsui being pitched around other players like Hendrickson have picked up the slack.

Mitsui singled and drew three intentional walks, a typical day for him this season.

“He’s patient,” Tonkin said. “When he gets to hit he makes the most of it.”

The UW-bound Mitsui is batting .700, with a staggering on-base percentage of nearly .900.

Shorewood will be a favorite to advance to the state 3A semifinals at Safeco Field, a feat they accomplished last year.

Tonkin praised his team’s tenacity, ability to play defense and ability to pitch as factors in their success this year.

Construction on a new Shorewood will start in a few months and the current field will be replaced. The T-birds will play at Meridian Park until the new school and field are ready in a couple years.

“I’m going to hate to see this field go,” Tonkin said. “I cherish every year we’ve been here. It’s been a pretty good run.”