Falco stays unbeaten as Kangs survive Juanita’s rally | Prep baseball

Wednesday's nail biter adds further fuel to the fire that just about anything can happen in a rivalry game.

April 21, 2016 1:51 am
Lake Washington senior Paul Falco throws out a pitch during the Kangaroos’ 4-3 win over Juanita on Wednesday
Lake Washington senior Paul Falco throws out a pitch during the Kangaroos’ 4-3 win over Juanita on Wednesday

Wednesday’s nail biter adds further fuel to the fire that just about anything can happen in a rivalry game.

The Lake Washington High School baseball team survived a late rally to hand a 4-3 loss to Juanita in KingCo League play on Wednesday at Lee Johnson Field in Kirkland.

“I think it’s the rivalry game, and it’s the game of baseball, you know?” Lake Washington coach Derek Bingham said. “It’s not always going to be 10-1 or 7-2. We had a lot of hits and left some guys in scoring position. We’ve been really successful lately with getting two-out hits and we didn’t really get them tonight.”

Lake Washington (15-1 overall, 13-1) won for the eighth consecutive game, holding on to first place in the KingCo 3A standings.

Kangaroo senior Paul Falco improved to 6-0 as a starter, going five and one third innings with eight strikeouts, three hits and three walks, despite struggling with his breaking ball and being forced into a predicable fastball for much of the game.

“I’ve got every bit of confidence that, the next time he goes out, he’ll be the Paul he’s been all season,” Bingham said. “The reality is, to not have your best stuff and still get a win against a rival is pretty impressive.”

The Rebels (6-9, 6-11) lost for the fifth time in six games, but put the pressure on Lake Washington throughout the game. Juanita scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and got the leadoff runner on base in the seventh, but the Lake Washington bullpen came up with three clutch strikeouts in the final two innings.

The Kangs took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second on an RBI from Kyle DePartee, a sacrifice from Matt Scheffler and an RBI single from Connor Johnson.

It was Johnson who provided a little fifth-inning drama that proved to be the game-winner. Kevin Nakahara stepped off second base and drew the attention of Rebel pitcher Dexter Mell just long enough for Johnson to score on a steal of home plate with two outs after Nakahara was picked off.

Johnson finished 3-4 with one run and one RBI.

Jayson Schroeder, Taylor Peterson and Mark Michel each batted in a run for Juanita. Mell finished with two hits, but was also struck out twice.

Marcus Notebloom came in to close out the sixth inning, getting a groundout to second base and a strikeout of Kendall McFadden to strand runners on second and third.

“At the beginning of the season and in the off-spring, we didn’t think we were going to have pitching,” Falco said. “Marcus Notebloom, he was working as hard as he could all off-spring, and it’s definitely showing here. He looked good coming in.”

Ethan Liggett pitched the seventh inning with two strikeouts and one hit batter. When Liggett got the final out, catching

Mell swinging, the Kangs poured from the dugout and mobbed the right hander.

Falco was one of the first to reach Liggett, and embraced the teammate that kept the starter’s record unblemished despite uncertain stretches in the third and sixth innings.

“It’s good that we played this type of game because this is what the playoffs are going to be like,” Bingham said. “In the playoffs, and if we’re fortunate enough to make it to state, those games rarely are going to be 10-1 or big blowouts. They’ll be nail biters just like this one.”