Redmond Baseball Grabs Final State Bid With 10-0 Shutout Win

Zach Abbruzza was uncomfortable on the mound. Redmond's ace was struggling with his command, wearing his frustration on his face from almost the first pitch.

If Monday's results are any indication, teams should be terrified as to what could happen when Abbruzza feels comfortable.

Abbruzza tossed six shutout innings, and every Redmond starter reached base as the Mustangs nabbed the final state tournament spot with a 10-0 win over Marysville-Pilchuck on Monday night at in Redmond.

"I did not feel comfortable at all," Abbruzza said. "It was nice that my teammates picked me up — that helped a lot."

Redmond broke the game open in the third inning, scoring five runs, all with two outs. The first two batters of the inning were retired before Redmond put together a string that included four doubles and two walks to help the Mustangs build an insurmountable lead. provided the big hit for Redmond, a two-run double that blew the game open, giving Redmond a 5-0 lead.

"We get two outs, and it's hard to get us back onto the field, we're still sitting up there with the sticks in our hands," Redmond head coach Dan Pudwill said. "And that's been the fun thing to see, with two outs, getting some big clutch hits that kind of swing the momentum our way and maybe break the backs of the other team."

Although Abbruzza may not have had his best stuff, the future Gonzaga Bulldog was efficient for the Mustangs. Abbruzza retired nine batters in a row at one point and finished with eight strikeouts while allowing three hits over six innings.

Abbruzza got plenty of help from his defense as well. After a lead-off hit by Joe Morgan to start the game, second baseman Cody Beliel made a diving stop on an Adam Sylvester grounder for the first out. Later, with two on and two out, third baseman Patrick McGrath made a diving snare of a Riley McKinley ground ball and threw McKinley out to end the Tomahawks' best scoring opportunity.

The outfield got in on the fun in the fourth inning, with left-fielder Connor Bozman making the play of the game, a full sprint, full layout diving catch of a Ross Lyons fly ball. Center-fielder Dylan Davis followed it up one batter later with a diving catch of his own in right-center field.

"Holy smokes, that's as good as we've played defensively all season," Pudwill said. "Guys were leaving their feet; you could tell that they wanted it."

Peter Hendron continued his hot hitting for the Mustangs, knocking in four runs, including a monster two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth inning that pushed Redmond's lead to 6-0. Hendron is 12 for 17 with nine RBI's over his last four games and has provided Redmond with a potent clean-up option outside of the Michael Conforto-Abbruzza-Davis trio.

"We're not relying on three sticks," Pudwill said. "A pitcher can't relax when he gets to the four spot, because, right now, the four spot's our best hitter."

The win was the fourth of the do-or-die variety for Redmond in the last week. The Mustangs lost the opening game of the KingCo tournament to Inglemoor, but have cruised in their last four, looking more and more like the team people expected when they started the season nationally ranked by ESPN.

"I feel like this is as well as we've played (all year)," Pudwill said of his team's recent streak. "I think they feel pretty good about themselves."

Redmond opens the state tournament against Olympia at 10 a.m. Saturday at Heidelberg Park in Tacoma. The Mustangs will be looking to avenge last year's shocking first-round exit and make a run at the program's first state title since 1993.

"We're just going to go attack it again (and) see what we can do," Abbruzza said.