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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Drew Rasmussen masterpiece spurs Wildcats to win

Mt. Spokane pitcher Drew Rasmussen threw a complete-game shutout against Lewis and Clark on Tuesday at Hart Field which gave him wins against every baseball team in the Greater Spokane League.

Rasmussen also helped his own cause when he smashed a three-run home run over the 369-foot sign in left field as the Wildcats beat the Tigers 10-0 in six innings.

“He was really efficient today,” Mt. Spokane coach Alex Schuerman said of Rasmussen. “He only threw 74 pitches. That’s a really good team we beat.”

The final regular-season game was a matchup of the league’s top two strikeout kings, Rasmussen and LC’s Karver Pate. Pate won the strikoute battle eight to seven, but he ended up taking the loss for the Tigers (13-7, 12-6 GSL).

“I told them that we played against a really good team,” LC coach Steve Bennett said after the game. “When you play a team like Mt. Spokane, they take advantage of mistakes. They certainly did that.”

Early in the game, Pate often would get two early outs and then he’d have to face the Wildcats’ Blake Macdonald.

Three times during the game, Macdonald came to the plate with two outs and he hit doubles all three times to spark the Wildcats’ offense. Macdonald ended up going 4 for 4 and scored four runs.

“Our three- (Macdonald), four- (Rasmussen) and five- (Jake Leavey) hitters manufactured a lot of runs for us,” Schuerman said. “Our offense is rolling right now.”

But Rasmussen’s arm won the day.

“He went 9-0 in league. He beat every GSL team once,” Schuerman said. “I don’t know that that has ever happened before.”

Mt. Spokane (16-4, 15-3) will play at home at 4 p.m. Tuesday against either Kamiakin or Southridge in a 3A subregional game.

Bennett said he hopes his team shakes off this loss quickly as the Tigers play at 7 p.m. Monday in a District 8 4A game at Avista Stadium against GSL-champion Gonzaga Prep (17-1, 18-2).

The Wildcats finished second in the GSL and handed the Bullpups their only league loss.