Eagles are soaring in the second half of the season

Issaquah has won seven of its past 10 games on the diamond

By Shaun Scott • April 24, 2015 3:58 pm
Issaquah Eagles senior infielder Andy Co takes a swing at a pitch in a contest against the Redmond Mustangs on March 27 in Issaquah.
Issaquah Eagles senior infielder Andy Co takes a swing at a pitch in a contest against the Redmond Mustangs on March 27 in Issaquah.

Flashback to just a little more than a month ago: The 2015 high school baseball season wasn’t going according to plan for the Issaquah Eagles.

Issaquah had started off the season 1-2 but found themselves crushed 10-0 by Newport on March 26, then 11-0 by Redmond on March 27. Issaquah head coach Rob Reese, who has been the leader of the Eagles for the past 22 seasons in the dugout, had a spirited 15-minute post-game discussion in left field with his squad following their woeful performance against Redmond.

“We lost 14 seniors from last year’s team. It’s a new squad,” Reese said following the loss to Redmond. “We didn’t compete as good as we should have but we’ve probably faced two of the best lefties in the league the last two days. You can’t hit pitchers like Redmond’s pitcher (Brendan Ecklebarger-University of Washington commit) until you have seen him before. You don’t get to see those guys in C-team or JV. The season is young. We have a lot of good players, but its just a matter of adjusting.”

The comments by the 2013 Washington State Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee proved to be prophetic: The Eagles have won seven of their past 10 games since the loss to Redmond. And the team took revenge against Redmond courtesy of an 8-2 win on April 17.

It’s safe to say Issaquah’s youthful roster has adjusted quite well to the Class 4A KingCo varsity landscape. The Eagles baseball program has been one of the most formidable programs in the state in the past two decades, winning state championships in 2000, 2004 and 2007. It’s not the kind of program that rebuilds so much as it reloads. The competition for a spot on the varsity roster is fierce and once a player garners a spot on the team he recognizes what’s at stake and rises to the occasion.

With the regular season coming to a close at the beginning of May, the playoffs are on the immediate horizon for a plethora of Washington’s powerhouse baseball programs. With the legendary Reese calling the shots in the dugout, I won’t be surprised if the Eagles are still playing in the last few weeks of May.

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com