“Ridiculous” freshman tosses Totems into KingCo semis

Published 7:04 pm Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Welcome to the playoffs, freshman.

In his first career high school playoff game, Joe Giacchetti made quick work (just over 90 minutes) of the Bellevue Wolverines on Tuesday at Bannerwood Park, hurling his team to a 1-0 win in the opening round of the 3A KingCo baseball tournament. Giacchetti went the distance and faced only five batters over the minimum despite not striking out a single hitter on the afternoon.

“I was really excited and really nervous,” Giacchetti said. “But this is what you work hard for so where else would I rather be?”

The Totems got exactly what they were looking for offensively in the top of the first when Craig Sweet reached base, hustling up the line to beat a bobbled ball on the infield. Chris Strain brought home Sweet in the following at-bat to give Sammamish all the offense they would need with Giacchetti stifling the Bellevue bats and the defense looking absolutely artful behind him.

“I was just looking to help my team out,” Strain said of his at-bat in the first, adding that he was looking for a fastball on the outer-third of the plate, which is exactly what he got from Bellevue starting pitcher Michael Raine.

Tim Ahern’s squad, which at times throughout the year struggled to play consistent defense, was nearly flawless in the field against the Wolverines. Sweet threw out Jack Carlson attempting to steal second base in the first inning, Giacchetti helped himself when he cleanly fielded a bunt and cut down the lead runner at second in the fifth and also picked-off Jack Meggs stumbling back to first base in the sixth.

And he made his biggest play when it counted most.

In the bottom of the 7th, Reid Wagner reached base on an error by Sammamish shortstop Michael Colombi before Jeff Van Orman hit into a fielder’s choice that erased Wagner but still left the Wolverines with the game-tying run on at first base. Kiernan Reynolds then put Bellevue in business with a looping single down the right field line that left men at first and third still with only one out in the inning.

But in the next at-bat, Peter Warendorf appeared to misread a sign from Bellevue coach Jordan Nilsen at third base and attempted to lay down a bunt with no one running on the pitch.

The bunt was easily fielded in front of the mound by Giacchetti, who looked the runner back to third base and threw out Warendorf at first for the second out of the inning. Reynolds did move to second on the play meaning the winning run was now in scoring position.

But Giacchetti made sure that was merely a footnote when he induced a dribbler just off to the first base side of the mound that he fielded and underhanded to Strain to end the game.

Both Ahern and the senior Strain had high praise for their fabulous frosh postgame.

“I can’t really put it into words,” Ahern said. “He’s done it all year for us, we’re confident having him in the game and you can’t throw much better than that.”

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Strain summed up Giacchetti’s performance as well, “as a freshman, it’s ridiculous,” Strain said, adding that the Totems confidence is rolling heading into Thursday’s semi-final, where they will meet second-seeded Lake Washington for a spot in Friday’s title game.

Nilsen also was impressed with what he saw from Giacchetti. “He did a great job of keeping the ball out of our hitting zone,” Nilsen said.

The Bellevue skipper said that his team put in extra work in preparation for Giacchetti, who also pitched against them in their second meeting during the regular season, a 4-2 Sammamish win.

The loss ends the season prematurely for the Wolverines, who found themselves with state aspirations after a regular season that left them with the third best record in the conference. It also ends the Bellevue careers of seniors David Andrews, Bijan Dekhordi, Reynolds, Van Orman, Wagner and Warendorf.

“No one expected us to be the third seed in KingCo,” Nilsen offered. “I couldn’t be more proud of these kids, our seniors played with a ton of heart and I wish the best to all of them.”

Photos by Chad Coleman, Bellevue Reporter

Game Notes

Giacchetti was fabulous, but Bellevue pitcher Michael Raine was nearly his equal. Raine needed only 86 pitches to work a complete game, allowing only five hits and the one run in the hard-luck loss…Only one Sammamish runner reached third base after the first inning of the game, which was Strain on a standup triple in the third inning. Strain was 2-3 and reached base via a wild pitch on a strikeout as well…Sammamish got outstanding play in the field all around, but especially from shortstop Michael Colombi. Colombi, who did make the error in the 7th that got the inning started, flashed the leather on a handful of occasions- keeping one ball on the grass early in the game that stopped a possible double and handling every other grounder that was hit his way…Two crucial double plays also aided Sammamish. The first came in the fourth when the field umpire ruled that Van Orman made contact with Colombi outside the baseline, which gave the Totems the out at first base as well to end the inning. The second came only an inning later, after Giacchetti foiled the sacrifice attempt by Foreman, the following batter hit a line drive that was handled by Aaron Lawrenson at third and ended in a double play with Foreman caught in between first and second…Giacchetti and Nilsen spoke at length after the game concluded, with the Bellevue coach offering congratulations.