“We’re the Eastside Mariners, the only Mariners to win” Says Mariner manager Rick Park.

The Sierra Division leading Mariners took another step towards the PSSBL Championship with a 7-4 victory over division rival Ravens to go 2-0 in the playoffs. The Mariners compiled a 20-3-1 regular season record on tough pitching and timely hitting.

That trend continued today when trailing the Ravens 3-0 the Mariners exploded for five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Mariners manager Rick Pack believes it’s because “We have a team that never gives up. We never panic when we’re behind because our pitchers know that our team is going to come back”. Pack also believes part of the Mariners success has come from good draft choices.

The Mariners were PSSBL Champions two years ago, and have their eyes set on winning the title again- despite having the oldest team in the Sierra Division- 35 years and older- with an average age of 46.

Mariner pitcher Brian Pattillo got off to a good start throwing two scoreless innings. But in the third inning the Ravens put together two runs and added a third run in the fifth. Pattillo battled through this and kept the Mariners in the game.

There was a twenty minute rain delay in the fourth inning and then play resumed.

Trailing the Ravens in the bottom of the seventh inning Ravens pitching began to unwind, walking five batters- two of which scored runs. That’s when the Mariner “don’t ever give up” attitude prevailed. The Mariners put together a five run inning to take a 5-3 lead.

In the top of the eighth the Ravens responded with another run to close the gap by one run but in the bottom of the eighth the Mariners added two more runs and were threatening to pad their lead by more.

With no outs and a runner on first the next Mariner batter pulled off a perfectly planned and executed sacrifice bunt that rolled ten feet in front of the plate. The Ravens pitcher quickly barehanded the ball and threw to first base for what should have been an easy out.

Unfortunately the throw was wide and drew first baseman Jeff Ekler off the bag. When Ekler turned to tag out the runner his arm was impacted and he spun to the ground in pain. The players on the field rushed to check on Ekler’s condition. One of the Ravens players was overheard saying “I could hear the crack from the dugout."

The Highline Fire Department was immediately called and respondents arrived within minutes. The diagnosis by paramedics was a broken left Humerous- the upper arm bone between the shoulder and the elbow. Medics stabilized Ekler’s arm, put him on a gurney and took him to a waiting ambulance were he was then transported to Highline Hospital’s Emergency Room for evaluation and treatment. As of Sunday evening Sept. 19 there was no word on his condition.

It was decided by the umpires and both managers that the game would be called at the current score of 7-3 giving the victory to the Mariners.

The next opponent for the Mariners may be the Volcanos who, manager Rick Park believes “We match up well with them”.

Two more wins will make the Mariners PSSBL Champions...again.

For more information about this weekends games throughout the Puget Sound Baseball League go to www.pssbl.com

This writer wishes Jeff Ekler a speedy recovery.