After starting the season 4-0, Sequim’s Wolves found themselves on the short end of a series of close games last week — and, in the end, a four-game winless streak.
A 10-inning, 7-6 loss to Kingston on March 31 capped an 0-4 week for the Wolves, who now sit a game back of four teams tied atop the Olympic League standings.
Seattle squad edges Sequim
The Wolves started the week suffering their first loss of the season, an 11-9 defeat at the hands of non-league foe Roosevelt on March 28.
Despite being out-hit 12-8, Roosevelt took advantage of seven Sequim errors and overcame an early four-run deficit to score five runs in the fourth inning and held on for the victory.
James Grubb went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and teammate Gavin Velarde went 3-for-5 with two steals and three runs scored in a losing effort.
Rudy Whitehead went four innings while Ryan Clark and Cole Williams threw a combined three innings of relief, giving up just two earned runs and striking out four Roosevelt Roughriders.
PA bats prevail
In a back-and-forth tilt that saw three lead changes in the final three innings, the visiting Port Angeles Roughriders had the final answer.
Port Angeles scored four runs off Sequim’s Grubb in the seventh inning as PA topped the Wolves 10-7 in Sequim on March 29, SHS’s first Olympic League loss.
Luke Angevine had three hits and Noah McGoff drove in two for Port Angeles. Dane Bradow picked up the win in relief of Colton McGuffey and Brody Merritt tossed a scoreless seventh inning for the save.
Ian Miller started strong for the Wolves, holding Port Angeles to a run over the first four innings as Sequim jumped to a 5-1 lead. The Riders erupted for five runs in the fifth inning for a 6-5 lead.
Sequim battled back to score a pair in the sixth before Port Angeles rallied in the seventh.
Miller and Grubb struck out four Roughriders each.
Grubb (four hits) and Velarde (three hits, including a triple) starred at the plate, garnering seven of Sequim’s nine hits. Grubb stole two bases and drove in three.
“(I) couldn’t be more proud of our group of kids, they battled all game long coming back from two different deficits in the last three innings,” Port Angeles coach Karl Myers said.
Luke Angevine was 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead Port Angeles hitters.
Olympic ace shuts down Sequim
Sequim’s Wolves ran into a buzz-saw named Chase Matheny on March 30. The ace from Olympic held the Wolves to just two hits while the Trojans took advantage of five Sequim errors for a 10-0 win in five innings.
Matheny struck out nine and walked just one.
Justin Porter had a double. Jared Thomas had Sequim’s other hit.
Evan Turnquist and Kylan Pereira had two hits each for Olympic, who scored six runs in the first inning off of SHS starter James Thayer.
Williams worked four innings of relief for Sequim, striking out two and giving up just one earned run.
Buccaneers edge Wolves in 10th
Another back-and-forth league contest saw Kingston continue Sequim’s winless streak, as the Bucs gave up a five-run lead before winning 7-6 in 10 innings on March 31.
The Wolves, down 5-0 after two innings, plated two runs in the fourth inning, three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh but it wasn’t enough. The Buccaneers got a run off reliever Silas Thomas in the final frame and Jon Daniels tossed a scoreless final half-inning for the save.
Porter pitched seven strong innings of five-hit, one-run relief and struck out six after Grubb was tagged with five runs — just two earned — in the first two innings.
Sequim pitchers combined to strike out 13 Kingston batters.
Porter bashed four hits, Grubb had two and James Thayer had a double for Sequim.
The Wolves left 10 men on base.
Looking ahead
Sequim is off for spring break until April 11 when they host non-league foe Bainbridge, a 3A school, on April 11, then travel to Bremerton on April 12. The Wolves host Olympic on April 13.
