MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Marysville-Pilchuck and Mountlake Terrace didn’t disappoint as the teams clashed in a preseason rematch of last year’s district championship game.

Tied for half of the game, the defenses forced an eighth inning before a fielding error handed the Hawks a 4-3 home win in the March 19 game.

“Mountlake Terrace is a great team,” said Marysville coach Kurt Koshelnik. “We came out on the other side of it. It was a good test for us.”

The Tomahawks took the first lead, striking early. Leadoff batter Levi Cartas was walked in the top of the first and a home run from three-hole batter Austin Denton drove him in, giving M-P a 2-0 lead. But the Terrace defensive crew buckled down, holding the Tommies off at bat. Offensively, starting pitcher Tyler Holm held the Hawks scoreless for three innings before the home team tied up in the bottom of the fourth, stringing together two runs from a pair of walks, a fielder’s choice and a couple of base hits.

With two outs and two runners on base, sophomore Jake Thomas took over pitching for Holm, striking out his first batter to close out the inning.

The 2-2 tie was short-lived as nine-batter Steve Shane led off the fifth inning for Marysville with a solo home run to center field but, once again, Mountlake Terrace answered, scoring in the bottom of the fifth.

The top of seven seemed promising for the Tomahawks as catcher Casey Keister got things started with a single, but while Cartas and Holm got on base, Terrace stayed ahead of the lead runner and the inning ended in a strikeout.

With senior Jack Opel on the mound in the seventh inning, the Tommies held the tie and forced an extra inning but couldn’t muster the offense in the top of the eighth. Mountlake Terrace got two on base with a walk and an error, moving runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Marysville gave Terrace a walk to load the bases and try to force a double play, but met their goal halfway as Shane stopped one runner at second base but overthrew to first for the third out.

Koshelnik said he was happy with the way the team performed against some of Wesco’s best pitchers and singled out his own pitching staff for their development so early in the season.

“Honestly, they came in and competed,” he said. “We threw them into a tie game, into the fire. They looked like they’d been there before.”