This season’s on-the-field success for the Auburn Mountainview baseball team is a story three years in the making.
It all began in 2010, when the Lions’ made their last appearance in the state 3A playoffs.
Among the young sophomores on that team were Brice McCulloch, Nick Brooks, Shawn Guinn and Kekoa Nahaku, this season’s senior core.
“Ever since our sophomore year when we went to state (2010), we talked about our senior year,” Brooks said.
Now Brooks and his teammates are making good on their promise and commitment to be the last team standing at the end of the season.
The Lions are the second-ranked 3A team in the state, with a 15-2 overall record, 10-2 in the South Puget Sound League 3A.
“I’m pleasantly surprised, yes, but I knew what we had coming in,” coach Glen Walker said. “You know what you have, but you never know if they’re going to play up to that potential. Right now this team is right where they should be.”
Through 16 games (as of April 15) the Lions have put up impressive numbers, both at the plate and on the hill. The team is averaging more than nine runs a game while holding opponents to just under three runs a game. At the dish the team is averaging .400 with an on-base percentage of .499 and a slugging percentage of .524. Perhaps more remarkable is the team’s discipline at the plate, with just 56 strikeouts in 462 at-bats.
“There are some things we can work on,” Walker added. “We’re still making mistakes, but our approach at the plate has been phenomenal this past few weeks. We’ve been able to stay on the baseball more and we’re putting the ball in play hard and making the other team play baseball. We’re able to put bunts down when we need to, we’re dragging for base hits left and right. Guys in spots are getting up and driving the ball into gaps. It’s been fun.”
Offensively, the team is led by Brooks, who splits time defensively on the mound and at the corners.
“I did a lot of work in the offseason with Guy Keller from the Seattle Stars (Brooks’ club team),” Brooks said. “I watched a lot of video just seeing what I needed to improve.”
It’s paid off for the right-hander, who is leading the team with a .608 average with 27 RBIs, seven doubles and three home runs. In 51 at-bats he has struck out just once.
The team also keys offensively off sophomore Jeffrey Morgan (.440 average with 17 RBIs), senior Matt Anderson (.488 with 11 RBIs), Guinn (.245 with11 RBIs), sophomore Mason Cerillo (.389 with 10 RBIs) and McCulloch (.457 with 10 RBIs and two home runs).
On the mound, Auburn Mountainview’s pitching staff has been just as impressive as its offense. The staff has a 2.03 earned run average with 139 strikeouts and just three home runs allowed, holding opponents to a minuscule .184 batting average.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised with our guys on the hill,” he said. “They’ve been keeping teams from scoring, they’re keeping guys off the bases.”
Brooks has led the team’s core of pitchers with a 5-0 record, a 1.56 ERA, with 47 strikeouts in 31.1 innings pitched.
Guinn has also proven himself a capable inning-eater for the Lions with a 3-1 record and a 2.05 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 27.1 innings pitched.
A third and fourth option on the mound for Auburn Mountainview this year has been senior Cody Wiseman – 3-0, with a 2.18 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 25.2 innings – and junior Joey Cassano – 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 11.2 innings.
The real secret to the Lions’ success this season has been attitude and team chemistry.
“With this team we did some team building stuff early on, but this team has really rallied around each other,” Walker said. “The egos aren’t really being shown. Our guys have shown a real positive attitude with everything.”
“I really feel this is the closest team I’ve ever played on,” Brooks said. “We do a lot of team bonding, and I feel confident that every player on the team would pick the other players up.”
