Boys Soccer

In an entertaining and physical battle between Olympic Peninsula rivals, the Port Angeles boys soccer team got a pair of goals from Matthew Miller and held on during a rugged second half to overcome Sequim 2-1 at Wally Sigmar Field on April 8, putting themselves in solid position for third place in the Olympic League.

It was the first time the Riders had beaten Sequim since 2023.

“This game is a huge turning point for us,” said Port Angeles coach Chris Saari. “They’ve had the upper hand on us for a couple of years. Sequim is a tier above some of the teams we’ve beaten so far this year.

“We out-possessed them by a long shot, that final pass just eluded us,” said Sequim coach Dave Breckenridge. “The guys put in a great effort. We just have to be smarter with our decisions.”

“It’s always physical here. Both teams came out wanting to win.”

The game started off great for Sequim and disastrously for the Roughriders as the Wolves scored just 90 seconds into the game after a defensive breakdown by Port Angeles. Because of a miscommunication, the Wolves’ Sebastian Buhrer was left unmarked after a throw-in in front of a wide-open goal mouth. Buhrer took advantage of the opportunity and his shot was perfect to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead.

After that stunning goal, Port Angeles controlled much of the play for the rest of the first half with the ball in Sequim’s end most of the half. The Riders’ Kanyon Anderson nearly got an equalizer in the ninth minute on a nice shot from the right side that just went wide of the left post.

The Riders finally broke through in the 27th minute when Grant Butterworth made a great through pass, setting up Miller for an open run. Miller finished the play with his first goal.

Anderson had his second near-goal in the 30th minute when a high-arcing shot was punched by Sequim’s keeper Evan Cisneros, who leaped high to just knock the ball over the crossbar.

Anderson finally ended up getting in the scorebook when he made a beautiful cross that got deflected off a Sequim defender to an open Miller in the 35th minute. Miller buried his shot in the left corner to give the Riders a 2-1 lead.

In the second half, the Wolves came out fired up and had possession and the ball in Port Angeles’ end much of the half. The game also got physical with a number of hard collisions and yellow cards. Three Roughriders went down with cramps, including Miller.

Sequim’s best chance for an equalizer came in the 48th minute on a powerful left-footed shot by Colin Feik just outside the penalty area, forcing Halberg to make his best save of the night as he dove to his left to keep the ball out.

Sequim had one more golden opportunity in the 65th minute as Halberg lost control of the ball after a free kick when he was jostled by Sequim players. The ball ended up loose right in front of the goal mouth, but a Sequim shot went high over the crossbar.

It was a stressful end to the game for the Riders as the ref added several minutes of stoppage time and the Wolves kept pressing, putting constant pressure on the Port Angeles defense over the final several minutes. The exhausted Riders were able to hang on.

Sequim (3-4, 3-4) was set to play next at Kingston (1-5, 2-6) on Tuesday, April 15.

Baseball

In a game for the ages, the Sequim baseball team broke a long losing streak at Port Angeles’ Civic Field on April 9, and it came down to a bang-bang play at home plate in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The game had a bit of everything. Longtime rivals, great pitching, great baserunning, great defense after a sloppy first inning, plus a couple of controversial calls and a game-ending tag.

The Wolves won 5-4, getting an outstanding pitching performance from Zeke Schmadeke, who went six innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs while striking out seven. He threw 102 pitches in his marathon start.

“I don’t know if I’ve won a game here in 20 years of coaching,” said Sequim manager Dave Ditlifsen. “This is a tough place to play and Port Angeles is always good.”

“We just kept showing resilience. We scrapped and clawed, it was a great game,” Ditlifsen said. He said Schmadeke threw a great game after a difficult first inning. “He always battles. He has a tough mindset. He wants the ball.”

“I’ve never beaten Port Angeles before,” Schmadeke said. “I fed off our energy. My team was super supportive. It’s been a battle these past two games.”

With the victory, the Wolves avenged a heartbreaking 7-4 loss Tuesday in extra innings to the Roughriders as the rivals battled right down to the wire in both games.

Both teams got a run in the first inning in similar fashion without the benefit of a hit. Sequim’s Devyn Dearinger was hit by a pitch by Port Angeles starter Rylan Politika. He went to third base on a bad pickoff throw to first, then came in to score on a groundout.

Port Angeles’ Alex Angevine did nearly the same thing. He walked, then went to third on a bad pickoff throw, then came in to score on a bad throw to third.

Both defenses settled down and played well the rest of the game as both Politika and Schmadeke got into a groove.

Double steal

Port Angeles was clinging to a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning when Sequim finally broke through with a big three-run inning.

Simon Skribner walked and Schmadeke got on via an error. Dearinger laid down a sac bunt to move the runners to second and third and Braydan White was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a force out at every base.

Lincoln Bear crushed a ball to the left-center fence that missed being a grand slam by a few feet. However, it was good enough to score Skribner from third, while Schmadeke moved up a base.

White and Schmadeke then executed a perfect double-steal, with Schmadeke beating the throw from second base to home to make it 3-2. With White now on second, Ethan Staples hit a clutch single to center to drive in another run. It was the only hit of the three-run inning.

Port Angeles got a run back in the bottom of the inning, thanks to the Riders’ own great baserunning. Nathan Basden got on with a single, stole second, then moved to third on a wild pitch. Luke Flodstrom hit a sac bunt to drive in Basden from third to make it 4-3.

Sequim tacked on a run in the sixth with some controversy. Hunter Tennell got on base with a single, then Skribner walked. Schmadeke hit a grounder to shortstop Angevine who threw out Skribner at second. Schmadeke beat the throw to first, avoiding the inning-ending double play as Tennell scored all the way from second. Schmadeke was then caught in a rundown sneaking toward second and was tagged out, but the run counted.

Port Angeles argued that there was interference between Tennell and Angevine. The umpires held a long conference and ruled no interference. It turned out to be a crucial call in a one-run game.

Now down 5-3, the Riders nearly pulled off a fantastic game-ending rally for the second straight game. Schmadeke was taken out for White in the seventh.

Angevine led off with a single and Kody Williams walked. Angevine and pinch runner Carson Waddell pulled off a double steal themselves, moving up to second and third, putting the tying run on second base. After a Jordan Shumway strikeout, Angevine alertly scored on a Basden groundout while Waddell moved to third base.

On a wild pitch, Waddell alertly broke for home, but Bear, the Sequim catcher, made a great play to get a tag down at home. Waddell was called out at the plate, ending the game.

Sequim (3-3, 3-6) lost to River Ridge 6-1 for a nonleague contest on April 11. The Wolves travel to Olympic on April 15 and host the Trojans on April 16 and Orting on April 18.

Pierre LaBossiere and Michael Carman with the Peninsula Daily News contributed to this report.