MARYSVILLE Home or away, the Tomahawk baseball team is finding the second time is the charm.
A 1-0 loss to the Snohomish Panthers opened M-Ps conference schedule March 21, but thanks to the weather it would be nearly a week later before the Tomahawks would get to really prove their mettle. On March 26, Marysville kicked off a week of intense conference play with a much-delayed home rematch against Snohomish and two games against Everett.
Four days later, Marysville-Pilchuck boys came out on the other side with a 2-1 record, both wins coming in the second game of each series.
On March 26, as the clouds parted to produce almost ideal baseball weather, the Panthers won the battle of hits, but Marysville won the war, defeating Snohomish in the rematch, 2-1.
Primarily on the strength of their infield, Snohomish held the M-P offense to three batters, three outs in three of the first four innings. In the same period, the Panthers managed to put at least one runner on base each inning and batted in catcher Braden Allen in the fourth inning to take a lead.
Then, first batter up in the bottom of the fifth, M-P senior catcher Kyle Bottin connected hard with a pitch, good for a double. Bottin, who batted 2-of-3 for the Tomahawks against Snohomish, was batted in during the following at bat by junior first baseman Riley Gilbertson.
Gilbertson was forced to wait a little longer before running in the game winner, watching outfielder Kyle Mallory get on base and two more teammates strike out. Finally, on the bat of Shane McKinley, M-P saw its second run.
When the Tomahawks returned to defense, they were not without challenges to overcome. In their next at bat, Snohomish first baseman Brian Wolfe had a big triple for the Panthers. Then, with two runners on base, Marysville got the three outs in rapid succession as pitcher Brandon Kizer stopped Snohomishs Allen at first, and Gilbertson and M-P shortstop Sean Moser each grabbed a fly ball.
In the seventh, M-P head coach Josh Rosenbach relieved Kizer with junior pitcher Alex Austin, who helped dash the Panthers late-game hopes with a pair of strikeouts.
Bottin, who has been hitting well for the Tomahawks in their first seven games explained his batting philosophy after the win over rival Snohomish.
Im just looking for singles. Im not looking for the fences, he said, adding that hitting the ball well will continue to be a big part of M-Ps game strategy.
Bottin added that though the two teams are not scheduled to play again this season, he hopes they meet again.
We both have really good defense, good bullpen, he said. Thats a playoff game later on.

At M-P H.S.

M-P 0 0 0 0 2 0 x 2
Snohomish 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

Rosenbach said after the Snohomish game that he hoped to see his players continue to improve in their swinging and batting. On March 27 and 29, the Tomahawks hosted Everett for a pair of games, and despite splitting the series, the team produced statistically, notching 16 hits and 10 runs in the two games.
Gilbertson had a double and a triple for the Tomahawks in the March 27 game, but despite scoring first, M-P fell short when Everett ran in nearly every one of its six hits. The Tomahawks lost the game, 5-3.
The teams met again two days later in away game rescheduled at M-P, and this time it was the Seagulls who were held to three runs. Home runs from senior Blane Fiechtner and Bottin helped M-P come out ahead 7-3 to bring Marysvilles conference record to 2-2.

At M-P H.S. (March 27)

M-P 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 3
Everett 0 0 0 1 3 2 0 5

At Marysville-Pilchuck H.S. (March 29)
M-P 3 0 2 0 0 2 0 7
Everett 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 3