After enduring three challenging seasons, head coach Dylan McLauchlin and the West Seattle Wildcats finally clinched the state title. The Wildcats triumphed over Mount Vernon with a 9-3 victory in the WIAA Class 3A state high school baseball championship on Saturday night at Gesa Stadium.
Despite having strong teams in recent years, West Seattle (20-5) faced tough postseason losses that crushed their championship dreams. With 13 seniors on the roster, 10 of which will continue playing baseball after high school, the Wildcats were determined to leave their mark. A quick start helped, as they scored six runs in the top of the first inning before their defense even took the field.
Mount Vernon’s starting pitcher, Brady Collins, struggled finding the strike zone, walking five batters in the first inning alone. Meanwhile, Matthew Henning, Washington Huskie baseball commit, delivered an incredible performance on the mound for West Seattle, pitching 5 2/3 innings and giving up just two runs and four hits.
The Wildcats added two more runs in the second inning and another in the third, making the score 9-1. Although Mount Vernon managed to score another run in the fifth inning, Henning reached his 105-pitch limit and was relieved by Samuel Waskowitz, who closed out the game.
Despite a triple by Mount Vernon’s Xavier Neyens in the bottom of the seventh, which led to another run, the Wildcats’ defense was not phased and secured the 9-3 victory. Big contributions came from Bobby Trigg with two doubles and Lukas Cheha with three hits, while Parker Eley added two hits and two RBIs.
Mount Vernon concluded their impressive season with a 24-4 record, finishing as the state runner-up.
For the Wildcats, this championship was a triumph of years of hard work and camaraderie. Many of the seniors have been playing together since Little League, and their competitive nature and support of one another made this victory possible.
