Feldtman leads BHS into baseball semis against No. 1 Timberline

Published 10:15 am Friday, May 29, 2009

With apologies to Star Trek, the BHS baseball team has boldly gone where no Spartan nine has gone before – to today’s state tournament semifinal game against No. 1-ranked Timberline at 1 p.m. at Safeco Field.

In five previous state tournament appearances, the Spartans have won just once – a 10-9 victory over Kennedy in 2000.

But the Spartans ignored history to defeat Columbia River 5-4 early Saturday afternoon at Bellevue’s Bannerwood Park in the tournament’s opening round, then overcame Highline 9-4 in the nightcap.

There is, however, a bit of more recent history the team would dearly love to repeat: it swept back-to-back games against then-No. 1 Bishop Blanchet at the end of April.

“I’m very optimistic,” said coach Jayson Gore about the Timberline game. “It’s pretty exciting. Timberline is a very solid baseball team. They won’t beat themselves.”

After mid-season injuries to their two best pitchers – Colin Feldtman had a cyst in his back and Colby Morse had an elbow problem – the Spartans are at full strength.

“Colin Feldtman will put his cape on and throw us on his back,” Gore said. “And it’ll take more than Colin. We need to do the same things we’re done all season.”

Should Bainbridge prevail, it will face the O’Dea-West Valley (Yakima) winner for the title at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Spartans split a pair of games against the Irish in early April, winning 7-2 and losing 4-3.

Feldtman was involved in what Gore felt was the only sour note of the weekend, being omitted from the Seattle Times’ all-area team. Three selections were from Eastside Catholic and two from Blanchet – schools that Gore noted are done playing baseball this season.

Gore felt that Feldtman’s plans to attend Willamette University next year (a Division 3 school) might have been a factor, as the others are mostly Division 1 signees.

His omission might also reflect Bainbridge’s team-first approach.

“We have 16 kids who pull together and get it done,” Gore said. “Thirteen of them are seniors and you might think that there might be problems. But they’ve all bought into their roles.”

There are two tangible signs of that togetherness. One was a T-shirt Gore produced in January, with the legend “1 Team 1 Island 1 Goal,” with an arrow pointing to Safeco. The other was a demonstration of a particular Feldtman skill that none of his more decorated opponents possesses: dexterity with barbershop implements. A few days before the tournament started, Feldtman gave himself and his teammates matching Mohawk haircuts.

The close shaves on the sides of each player’s heads played out Saturday as both games had their share of anxious moments.

Against Columbia River, the Spartans built a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Brendan Gawlowski drove in the game’s first run in the third, and the big blow came two innings later when Feldtman hit a grand slam.

To Gore, the bases-loaded situation “typifies what we try to do. It was a walk, bunt single, bunt single. Both the bunters were trying to sacrifice, and their placement was perfect.”

But the Spartans ran into problems in the final frame as errors helped Columbia River score four runs. The winning run was on second with two outs, but Feldtman recorded the last of his 11 strikeouts to seal the victory.

Against Highline, the Spartans took an early 4-0 lead, with Feldtman rapping a triple and a double. But the Pirates wouldn’t go away. They scored a run in the fourth and added two more in the sixth and had the bases loaded. By then Mario McLaughlin was on the mound for the Spartans.

“We needed a different kind of pitch,” Gore explained, noting that Highline was a fastball-hitting team. “He got three outs on eight pitches. He threw two fastballs and the rest were curves and changeups.”

By far, the biggest pitch was the eighth, which resulted in a comebacker to McLaughlin who initiated a 1-2-3 inning-ending double play.

“The kids were ecstatic, but they knew the game wasn’t over,” Gore said. Tanner Bogardus hit a home run in the top of seventh. Three walks and several Highline errors plated four more runs.

“It was just a great team effort, especially in the second game,” Gore said. “A lot of kids stepped up.

“Now we need to finish the job. Nobody’s going to give us a chance, but our league has given us a big competitive advantage.”

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