06/04/2025
It’s a math problem for the freshmen to learn, and a good review for everybody else. Easier than Algebra II, but tougher than regular addition.
On the baseball field, mistakes multiply if you add them together. Don’t do it.
The Maple Valley varsity baseball team is on to the MHSAA Division 4 Regional Final Saturday, June 7, at Spring Arbor University after an early afternoon 4-2 victory over Big 8 Conference foe Concord in the regional semifinal at Addison High School Wednesday. The Lions manage to keep adding postseason wins together.
Senior Jakeb McDonald got the win allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and one walk in four innings on the mound. He struck out four. Sophomore Teegen McDonald came on to start the fifth and shut out the Yellow Jackets over the final three innings. He walked one and struck out four.
The two walks by the McDonald brothers, the two aces who helped power the Lions to the state semifinals a year ago, were both to Concord’s number nine hitter, Landon Lynn. They each had just the one walk though. They didn’t multiply their problems.
The Lions led 4-1 through three innings. Jakeb’s walks of Lynn came sandwiched between a pair of Concord doubles that helped the Yellow Jackets to a run in the bottom of the fourth to get within 4-2.
Coach Bryan Carpenter swapped the McDonald brothers between shortstop and the pitching mound to start the fifth inning, and the first batter Teegen faced hit a ground ball bounding right at Jakeb who fired high to first for an error. The runner didn’t last long though. The next batter popped a little liner to the left side that Jakeb lept up and grabbed and then fired to first to pick off the runner who had strayed too far from the bag for a double play.
With the slate clean again, Teegen got a strikeout that could have been the end of the inning, but the pitch was so far wide that catcher Nolan Hoefler couldn’t get to it and the Concord runner raced to first. Hoefler didn’t try and force a throw. Before Teegen even threw a pitch to the next batter, he spun and rocketed a pick-off throw to first baseman Darren Carpenter who dropped down a tag for the out.
The bottom of the sixth was a clean inning for the Lion defense, and the bottom of the seventh started with Teegen allowing a lead-off walk to Lynn. This time it was second baseman James Coblentz making the play for the Lions, snagging a line drive and firing to first to catch another Yellow Jacket too far off the bag for a double play. Teegen struck out the next guy and that was the ball game.
Jakeb said this team is able not to compound their errors because the confidence they gained in last year’s postseason run and throughout this season. He said things really started coming together in the couple weeks leading up to the start of the postseason for this young team.
Those three freshmen at the bottom of the Lion line-up really came up big Wednesday, and they needed to. Kaiden Meyers scored a run. Carpenter was 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Coblentz was 1-for-2 with a double, and he walked twice out of the number nine spot for the Lions too. Hoefler, a fourth freshman regularly in the starting line-up, bats lead-off for this Lion team.
Sophomore Bobby Bryson was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored for Maple Valley.
Maple Valley had just three hits against Concord pitchers Lynn, Nate Fritz and Jordan Medellion. The Lions’ top four hitters, Hoefler, Musser, Teegen McDonald and Jake McDonald were a combined 0-for-16 with three walks.
Lynn started and allowed three runs, two earned, on one hit, seven walks and two strike outs. He took the loos. Fritz got Concord through the next three innings allowing just one unearned run. Medellion came on for 1.2 scoreless innings of relief to finish the ballgame.
Concord had five hits, the doubles by Medellion and 12, and singles from Fritz, Dustin Hamilton and Lane Blossom …
Read more in this weekend’s edition of the Maple Valley News …
