Baseball: Shorewood defeats Redmond, 7-3

Henry McAree allowed just two base runners in three innings of work and Christian Heideger's go-ahead RBI single in the second inning held up as Shorewood beat Redmond 7-3 on Saturday afternoon at Shorewood High School in Shoreline.

Redmond entered the contest averaging over 8 runs per game and looked to be holding form after Colin McBride's homerun off Thunderbirds starting pitcher Kevin Moriarty tied the game at 3 in the top of the second. But McAree found control of his off-speed pitches early and spent the rest of the afternoon frustrating the Mustang hitters, racking up six strikeouts.

"Henry's made himself into a pitcher," Shorewood head coach Wyatt Tonkin said. "He locates the ball well, he's got a good battle plan and an excellent change-up. It's really really tough to get squared up on him."

Heideger singled home Paul Stotts in the second inning to put Shorewood up 4-3 and Duncan Hendrickson followed with a two-run double. Shorewood's offense slowed down the rest of the day, but Blake Snell and Connor Mckeever combined with McAree to make sure the runs held up. The Thunderbirds scored their final run on a fielders choice in the fifth inning.

"Our at-bats were very good," Tonkin said. "Even when we were out, we worked the count, to make it full, we had some great at-bats."

Redmond threatened in the top of the fifth inning, putting runners at first and second with one out. But Thomas Crosely was thrown out trying to steal third and Redmond's top hitter, Zach Abbruzza, struck out on a breaking ball to end the inning.

Snell and Mckeever each pitched an inning of perfect relief to finish the game.

"I thought we performed really well," Tonkin said. "Especially on the mound. All four guys just really threw the heck out of the ball."

The win came in a non-league matchup, but had more meaning due to the resumes of the two teams. Shorewood is ranked number two in the state in 3A by the Seattle Times, while Redmond is second in 4A. The Mustangs looked drained after playing Woodinville late on Friday night and were without their usual top pitching arms, as well as slugger Dylan Davis, who was out with the flu.

"We played a somewhat emotional game late last night and we were flat," Redmond head coach Dan Pudwill said. "I think the effort was there...it was more of an energy deal."

The win was the eighth straight for Shorewood, which has not lost since March 23. The Thunderbirds face Mountlake Terrace next on Tuesday at Mountlake Terrace.

"To get a game under our belt like that and get challeneged by a really really good team and respond is great, especially going into right of the middle of our season in league," Tonkin said. "We need to build on that, keep going, keep working hard and not let good be the enemy of great."