Baseball: Wolves beat Bucs, lock in district playoff berth
Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, May 3, 2016
After a pair of heartbreakers, Sequim looked to rebound with a big win against Kingston on April 29.
They got it.
Justin Porter had four hits — including two doubles and a triple — and drove in two runs as the Wolves crushed visiting Kingston 10-0 in five innings.
The win puts Sequim in fourth place in the Olympic League heading into their May 3 match-up with last place North Mason.
If Sequim remains in fourth, they advance with the league’s No. 4 seed to the West Central District playoffs on May 7. There they’d play Steilacoom, the No. 2 team out of the South Puget Sound League, at Russell Road Park in Kent.
If Sequim falls to the No. 5 seed, they take on Fife, the SPSL’s top team, at Franklin Pierce High in Tacoma the same day.
PA, Oly edge SHS
Sequim had a chance to challenge for one of the top three spots in league but dropped two close games at the beginning of last week.
On April 26, their last-gasp, seventh-inning rally came tantalizingly close to knocking off visiting Olympic but the Trojans threw the winning run out at home and rallied for two runs in the eighth inning for a 4-2 win.
For Sequim, Gavin Velarde and James Thayer had two hits each, James Grubb had a triple and Ethan Richmond had three stolen bases in the loss. Thayer tossed seven innings of three-hit ball, walking three and striking out two. Austin Hilliard took the loss for the Wolves, charged with a pair of unearned runs in the fateful eighth.
Sequim grabbed an early lead when Velarde singled to lead off the first and scored on an Evan Hurn sacrifice fly. Olympic tied it in the second on an Elijah Trottman groundout in the second inning and took the lead with an Matthew Walters triple in the third inning.
Thayer shut the Trojans down after that, allowing just one hit and one walk in the next four-and-two-thirds of an inning.
Velarde spurred Sequim’s seventh inning, leading off with a single, stealing second, advancing to third on a groundout and scoring on a walk. With two outs, Daniel Harker drew a walk and Richmond, pinch-running for Harker, looked to score on Grubb’s deep drive to center field but was thrown out.
In the eighth, Olympic took advantage of a pair of Wolves errors, a single, a hit batter and a walk for their two runs.
On April 27, Port Angeles’ Noah McGoff broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning by scoring from second base on an infield fly as the host Roughriders topped Sequim, 2-1.
The Wolves got their only run in the fifth inning off of PA reliever Travis Paynter. Hilliard singled and moved to second on a passed ball, to third on Velarde’s bunt single and home on another passed ball, tying the score at 1-1.
Grubb went the distance for Sequim, striking out five, walking five and allowing four hits and two runs in six innings.
Two days later, Sequim made quick work of Kingston thanks to a 10-hit barrage. Velarde and Nick Faunce added to Porter’s day with one double apiece. Velarde, who had two RBIs, gave up just two hits and a walk and struck out eight in five shutout innings for the victory.
Looking ahead
Sequim was slated to play at North Mason on May 3 — results were unavailable at press time.
The Wolves start the double-elimination West Central District tournament on May 7 at one of four sites: Franklin Pierce High School, Eastlake High School (Sammamish), Kitsap County Fairgrounds (Silverdale) or Russell Road Park (Kent).
Olympic League standings
(as of May 1)
Team Lg. Over.
North Kitsap 8-2 11-4
Port Angeles 8-2 14-3
Olympic 8-3 12-4
Sequim 5-6 10-8
Bremerton 4-6 7-9
Kingston 2-8 3-10
North Mason 1-9 4-12
