Washougal thanks MM for honesty
Tuesday, May 11, 2004 8:04 AM PDT
By Staff
Printable version
E-mail this articleMark Morris and Washougal played to a 1-1 tie in a GSHL 3A boys soccer match at Northlake Field last Friday. But without a little honesty on the part of the playoff-bound Monarchs, the game could easily have ended in a 2-1 MM victory.
With his team holding a 1-0 lead after an Adam Brown goal, Monarch Gabriel Negrete ripped a shot off the crossbar that bounced straight down. The referees conferred, then signaled a goal.
But some Mark Morris players were not so sure. Seniors Dale Waddell, David Earwood and Ryan Rowe led a contingent of Monarchs who approached MM coach Harold West and told him that no goal had been scored.
West told the referees, who negated the score.
Washougal coach John Tyger, a 33-year coaching veteran, was pleasantly shocked.
"It was an example of sportsmanship that I haven't seen," Tyger told The Columbian newspaper. "The majority of the kids on their team told the referee, 'Don't count it.'
"... You know there were some people out there thinking 'Why would they do that,'" added Tyger. "I've never seen anything like it."
The Panthers tied the match inside the final minute on Nick Pfeifer's goal.
Mark Morris discovered later Friday that it had clinched a playoff berth, thanks to Columbia River's win over R.A. Long. The Monarchs enter the District 4 playoffs tonight against River Ridge at Yelm High School (7 p.m.).
MM handed six-time defending league champion Camas (14-1) its only loss of the season on April 24.
Diamond notes ...
• Dave Orzel and the seventh-ranked Kalama Chinooks are following a "one game at a time" philosophy heading into the Class 1A District 4 tournament today.
"If you start looking past the game in front of you," Orzel said, "you get into trouble."
For one thing, Orzel "doesn't know a thing" about the Chinooks' first-round opponent, Hockinson, which competed in the 2A Trico Division and had to win a pair of loser-out games to advance to today's high-noon showdown at Napavine.
Kalama used six different starting pitchers this season and had success across the board. The Chinooks allowed the third-fewest runs (53) of any 1A team in the state, behind Warden (26) and Brewster (39).
"If one guy is not getting it done, we have three or four other guys ready to get it done," said Orzel. "Without a doubt, it's nice to have our pitching depth at this time of year."
Although he hasn't set his playoff rotation, and won't until game time, Orzel said that Bo Storedahl (4-1) and Spenser Gwynne (5-1) will see the mound today.
"I'll probably toss a coin," said Orzel. "I'm real comfortable with both of those guys."
The winner of the noon game will face the winner of the Adna/Napavine game in Toledo at 3 p.m. today.
• Pitchers Mike Peck of R.A. Long and Ian Dahl of Mark Morris both lost their only starts against GSHL 3A League champion Columbia River this spring. But they had by far the most success of any league pitchers against the powerful Chieftains.
Not bad for a sophomore (Peck) and a freshman (Dahl).
Each underclassman held River far below its per-game average in runs, using off-speed and location to tame the fastball-killing Tribe. The third-ranked Chieftains are stacked with 10 seniors and averaged 13.375 runs per game in eight league victories against pitchers other than Dahl and Peck. River's formidable lineup includes reigning league MVP Joel Johnson, the Barry Bonds of the GSHL, who is hitting over .700 in league play and reached base on all but three plate appearances in his first eight league games.
Peck, a sophomore right-hander, made his first mound appearance of the season against River on May 5, and surrendered only one earned run in a 3-1 loss. Prior to the game, some of Peck's friends joked that they were praying for him, but his success stemmed more from plying the outside corner with change-ups than divine intervention.
Dahl, a freshman southpaw, allowed four earned runs in six innings against the Chieftains in a 5-0 home loss April 26. He took a no-hitter into the top of the fifth inning after two hit-free trips through the River lineup, nibbling the edges of the plate with curveballs. The Chieftains scored their runs on a pair of opposite-field homers.
Dahl allowed five hits with four strikeouts and just one walk.
• Wahkiakum remained third in the Class B rankings of the latest Seattle Times/Washington Baseball Coaches Association prep baseball poll, released Monday. Kelso dropped one spot to No. 5 in 3A and Kalama remained No. 7 in 1A.
Woodland dropped off the 2A rankings after holding the No. 6 spot for several weeks.
Other regional teams include Columbia River (No. 3, 3A), River Ridge (No. 10, 3A), Ridgefield (No. 1, 2A), Hoquiam (No. 5, 2A), White Salmon (No. 7, 2A), Onalaska (No. 5, 1A), Adna (No. 9, 1A) and Hudson's Bay (No. 2, 4A).
In Oregon, Clatskanie failed to crack the latest 2A coaches poll, although the playoff-bound Tigers received votes. Northwest 2A League front-runner Warrenton, a 5-3 winner over Clatskanie last Tuesday, received three first-place votes to hold on to the No. 2 spot.
Past Month's Most Commented Stories