Ready for the moment? Top-ranked West Seattle continues roll by winning Metro League championship

WHITE CENTER, Wash. - Miles Gosztola said he woke up Saturday with renewed passion and purpose for the task at hand.

There was no way he was going to let his top-ranked West Seattle High School baseball team go home without a Metro League championship.

And he did just that, even if it wasn't his usual perfection.

Gosztola surrendered his first run of the season, but wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam late as the Wildcats turned away Eastside Catholic, 3-1, in the league championship game Saturday night at Mel Olson Stadium.

When the WIAA regional-round draw is released Sunday morning, the Wildcats will be a top seed at one of the four sites around the state.

"I wanted that so bad," said Gosztola, who struck out 10 over six innings of one-run (and one-hit) ball. "I love this team and I want us to go as far as we can."

Most figured West Seattle (22-1) would be in the position it was in Saturday night. Very few thought its opponent would be the Crusaders (10-13), who graduated 14 seasons last spring.

But after league tournament wins over Lakeside of Seattle, O'Dea and Lincoln of Seattle, the Crusaders came in on quite a run.

And third baseman-turned-starting pitcher Luke Rhea made only one real mistake in his six innings of work, giving up a two-run home run to Jake Lockwood in the fourth inning as West Seattle jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

But in a flash, Gosztola gave up his first run in 53-plus innings when Eastside Catholic's Jack Lee hit a towering home run to left field to lead off the fifth inning to cut it to 2-1.

"He hasn't really been tested too hard this year, so this game was a little different," West Seattle baseball coach Dylan McLauchlin said. "I loved it. We are all about competing and he figured out a way to ... get it done."

But it wasn't easy.

Eastside Catholic loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth inning - with Lee, its right-handed slugger, coming up to bat.

And after Gosztola got Lee swinging for a strikeout to end the inning, he let out a little emotion heading to the dugout.

"I absolutely wanted to get right back at (Lee)," Gosztola said. "Not giving that (a home run) up all season ... I wanted to get right back in there and say, 'I can punch back.'"

The Wildcats added an insurance run in the sixth inning - and Gosztola departed after 104 pitches, Co-ace Felix Schlede came it to pitch a clean final inning to notch the save.

"This team," Gosztola said, "will make a run to Pasco."