WOLVERINE BASEBALL 2002
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WOLVERINE BASEBALL 2002 |
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Related StoriesFriday Harbor Baseball 2002 Schedule First page of regional playoff photos Second page of regional playoff photos League Championship May 7, 2002 game |
Ross one of top 20 players in stateposted 06/05/02
"It's an honor to be picked,"said Ross. "It was an honor to be chosen to go to state with the 72 best." In the pst 20 years, more than a dozen participants in the Washington/Oregon All Stars Series have gone on to play major league baseball. John Olerud of the Seattle Mariners was the MVP of the Washington/Oregon All Star Series in 1986. Ross started playing baseball in Little League at age nine. "I've played the whole time," he said. "It's been a long ride." He will be playing baseball at Lower Columbia College in Longview next fall. But first he has the final chapter of his baseball career. The doubleheader will be played June 22 at Hudsons Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington. Ross to play with states best ball playersposted 06/05/02
Seniors from tiny to massive schools will compete in the games Saturday and Sunday at Eastmont High School. "It'll be pretty cool," Ross said. "The best players will be there." He'll definitely be flying high after Saturday's game -- Ross will play in a game at 12:30 p.m., then return by charter plane to Friday Harbor for commencement, which starts at 6 p.m. Ross was nominated for the All-State All-Star team after an MVP performance at a Northwest All-Star games at Bellingham June 1. "I didn't really expect it but it happened," Ross said of being selected the games' most valuable player. Ross threw in three innings, giving up only one hit and not allowing an earned run. "My curve ball was on. I was working ahead of them and getting a lot of ground balls," Ross said. He switched to center field for the opposing team and made a laser throw for a tag at second. Ross went 3-for-6 and drove in two runs in the two games and displayed some sharp base running. The coaches voted him the games' most valuable player. The versatile player had "fun" playing in game that he wasn't worrying about winning or losing. "It was good after playing in the regional game," Ross said, referring to the Wolverines' loss in the state tournament. Fellow Friday Harbor senior Bret Bartmasser was also one of the Northwest players nominated for the All-Star All-State squad. He smacked two doubles and a single. Friday Harbor baseball coach Rich Warin was proud of his players. "It's quite an honor. Two kids from Friday Harbor being two of 10 nominated for All-State...that's pretty amazing." The sluggers also earned conference kudos: Ross was named to the Northwest A League All-Oppenent First Team and Bartmasser earned a Second Team spot. Wolverine sluggers finish among Class A's elite eight
posted 05/20/02
Friday Harbor, the Northwest A League champion, finishes the season 16-4. Overlake improves to 13-1 and this weekend the Owls make their first appearance in the Class A Baseball Final Four in Yakima. The Wolverines, who started the season without a veteran pitcher, finished the season 16-4 and played in Regionals for the fourth consecutive year. "Pretty amazing.... We won the league and tied for fifth in the state again," Friday Harbor coach Rich Warin.
Toledo entered Saturday's game 21-1 and held a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the sixth inning. Timmy Aylward led off with a base hit and Adam Posenjak bunted safely. Jacob Ross hit the ball sharply to short and the Indians' infielder misplayed it, allowing Aylward and Posenjak to score. Andrew Westphalen reached base on an error but Toledo's hurler fanned the next two batters. Senior pinch hitter Charlie Herbert rapped a two-run single to cap the scoring. Ross sent the Indians down 1, 2, 3 in the top of the seventh. The senior hurler was backed up by outstanding defense: Toledo tallied 11 hits and stranded 12 runners. Vynne picked off an Indian with another runner on and helped turn a key double play that prevented a run from scoring.
"They kept coming up with big plays on defense," Warin said of the Wolverines, who managed only four hits but took advantage of the Indians' miscues. "That was one of the biggest wins in Friday Harbor history," Warin said, noting Toledo was probably the best Class A he'd seen. The Indians might have "looked like a small college team" but their few errors proved costly. "That's why you play the game between the lines instead of in the book," Warin said. Overlake, a school competing in baseball for just the third year, beat Seattle Christian 5-2 to advance to the Regional Final.
Friday Harbor went up 1-0 in their first at-bat against the Owls and a third Final Four appearance in four years looked likely. Ross walked and Westphalen singled. Fletcher Vynne blistered the ball down the third baseline, driving in Ross. Overlake prevented the Wolverines from going up 2-0 by tagging out Westphalen at home. Overlake tied the game in the second inning and errors helped the Owls score two more in the third for a 3-1 lead. The Wolverines drew within a run in the fourth. Vynne's double off the centerfield fence and scored on Westphalen's two-bagger. The Owls' fans started hooting in the fifth when their team added two runs with two outs. Brady Ryan, who relieved Westphalen, recorded the third out. Aylward led off the bottom of the fifth by singling up the middle. Ross reached base on a throwing error and Aylward scored, cutting the Owls' lead to 5-3.
Overlake scored one more in the sixth. Friday Harbor sent the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the sixth and were a misstep away from loading the bases with one out. Wolverines seniors are Jacob Ross, Adam Posenjak, Bret Bartmasser and Charlie Herbert played on teams that finished second, third and twice among the state's eight best. Friday Harbor will miss the seniors' sticks. Ross batted .476, rapped 3 home runs and stole 24 bases during the regular season. Bartmasser hit .373, smacked 2 homers and drove in 26 runs. Herbert, who rapped clutch hits in the Wolverines' Northwest A League Championship victory over La Conner and the Regional Semi-Final, "started really hitting at the end of the year," Warin said. Wolverine baseball playoff information posted 05/08/01
Four teams play in the regionals. The first game is at 11 a.m. -- District 3 Number 2 vs District 2 Number 1. Friday Harbor plays in the second game at 2 p.m. against District 4 Number 2. The winners of the first two games then play in the regional championship game at 6 p.m. The winner of the regional championship moves on to the FINAL FOUR in Yakima County Stadium for a 4 p.m. semifinal game on Friday, May 24, 2002. The losing team will play in a consolation game at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 25. The winning team will play in the championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 25, 2002. |
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