Spring sports preview: Baseball

Head coach: Dave Ditlefsen (13th year)

2017 finish: 14-7 (7-4, third in Olympic League); 2-2 at West Central District tournament

Top returning players: Ian Miller (sr.), Johnnie Young (jr.), Ryan Clark (sr.), Joseph Oliver (jr.), Silas Thomas (so.), Elandon Washburn (sr.), Cole Williams (sr.)

Newcomers: Tristin Dodson (sr.), Julian Hernandez (sr.), Jamie Schroepfer (sr.), Cameron Welcher (sr.), Jared Bates (jr.), Michael Grubb (fr.), Michael Young (fr.)

Key competition: North Kitsap, Port Angeles, Olympic

Diamond veterans and wet-behind-the-ears ninth-graders — this year’s Sequim High baseball club has a rather unusual senior- and freshman-heavy roster this spring.

“We’re trying to bridge the gap between classes,” says Dave Ditlefsen, now in his 13th year of leading the Wolves.

“There’s going to be a lot of learning.”

Sequim looks to continue the momentum they left off with last spring that carried them to within one game of the state tourney. Last spring the Wolves got hot at the right time, winning eight of their final nine games (not including a tie with North Kitsap) and earned two wins in the West Central District tournament.

Sequim missed out on state after a close loss to Olympic, one of three teams (along with North Kitsap, who finished fourth, and Port Angeles) to earn state 2A tournament berths.

Leading the Wolves is Ian Miller, a Yakima Valley Community College commit, who was an all-Olympic League first team pitcher. He led the squad with a 5-2 record and had a 2.61 ERA in 43 innings — almost twice as many innings as any other Wolf, and his 32 strikeouts were second on the club.

“He’s actually grown and improved in the offseason,” Ditlefsen says.

Also back is Johnnie Young, a three-year starter who’s slated to play third base this season. Young missed some time to injury in 2017 but hit .370 with an OPS of 1.019 (second on the team) in his limited time.

“He mashes the ball and has played a lot of baseball in his life,” Ditlefsen says. Young figures to be No. 2 in the pitching rotation behind Miller while not at the hot corner.

Backing Miller and Young in the rotation is senior Cole Williams, sophomore Silas Thomas and freshman Michael Young.

Senior Ryan Clark figures to anchor the Wolves at catcher, Ditlefsen says.

Junior Joey Oliver leads an infield from the shorstop spot — “he’s rock solid every single play,” Ditlsefsen says — while Elandon Washburn (11 varsity games in 2017) and ninth-grader Michael Grubb may split time at second base. Miller and Jared Bates have duties at first base.

In the outfield, Ditlefsen projects Williams in center field, with Thomas, Michael Young and Tristin Dotson holding down the corner positions.

“Defensively we’re going to be fine (and) we’ll do a good job on the bases,” Ditlefsen says. “We have solid pitchers but we lost some depth.”

Graduation and injuries have taken their toll on Sequim’s lineup. The Wolves look to replace first team all-Olympic League outfielder James Grubb and second team infielders Gavin Velarde and Justin Porter.

Grubb led the team with a .432 average and 33 RBIs — more than twice as any other player — and stolen bases with 19. He also struck out a team-high 34 batters. Velarde, a senior this year who is out with an injury, was second on the team with a .420 batting average and led the team in runs scored (33), doubles (8) and triples (3). Porter hit .417 and scored 23 runs, tied for second on the team.

Sequim also lost (via graduation) dual threat Austin Hilliard, who hit .323 at the plate and had 15 steals, and also went 3-1 with a team-best 1.27 ERA on the mound.

“We lose some firepower (from last year),” Ditlefsen says. “We have some big shoes to fill in the lineup.”

Sequim hosted a jamboree on March 10 and was scheduled to play at Chimacum on March 12 and host Olympic on March 13. The Wolves are at Coupeville on March 15 and host Aberdeen on March 17.