EDITOR’S NOTE: Box score updated May 9, 2016, to include Port Angeles’ pitching statistics.
PORT ANGELES — Curan Bradley singled, Eathen Boyer walked and Ben Basden reached on an error.
That isn’t enough offense to beat North Kitsap, but it’s all that Port Angeles mustered in its 2-0 loss to the Vikings in a showdown for the Olympic League 2A Division crown at Civic Field on Tuesday.
North Kitsap pitcher Kole Milyard pitched all seven innings to notch his second shutout of Port Angeles this season. He allowed one hit, struck out four and walked one.
But he wasn’t completely unhittable. The Roughriders put the ball in play and there were several hard-hit balls that were tracked down by Vikings outfielders.
“We did barrel some balls here and there, but we just [got out],” Port Angeles coach Vic Reykdal said.
“And that’s baseball. You never really know. If you get a couple of those to drop, maybe you get something going.
“All in all, it wasn’t our best day at the plate, that’s for sure.”
Bradley, Boyer and Basden were Port Angeles’ only base runners of the game, and neither moved past first.
Milyard had a no-hitter going until Bradley’s bloop single with one out in the sixth inning. Bradley was then thrown out trying to steal second.
For most of the game, the Riders were stuck in that awkward spot between being patient and being aggressive, wanting to drive up Milyard’s pitch count while also swinging at good pitches.
But first-pitch strikes put the Riders behind in the count, and then Milyard kept pounding the strike zone.
“Early in the game, they were letting the first pitch go by,” Milyard said. “So I let them give up that first pitch, it was good to have the strike.
“Then, I don’t know, they maybe knew I was coming back with another strike, and they’d swing at that.”
Milyard got out of four of the seven innings throwing eight pitches or less, and threw only 73 overall.
“We just didn’t adjust to him very well,” Reykdal said.
“We’ve taken the approach where we want to look at some pitches early and get pitch counts on pitchers, but we also talk about if the guy’s throwing strikes, then we got to get out and get on top of it.
“And we really didn’t make that adjustment in this game. We kept getting behind on counts, and then you’ve got to kind of go into that two-strike approach, and we just never really hit the ball.”
Bradley started for Port Angeles and reached 70 pitches in four innings. He struck out the first two batters he faced but then struggled with control until being relieved by Janson Pederson before the fifth inning.
Bradley allowed runs in the first and third innings, but other than that was able to keep the Vikings off the scoreboard.
“Curan struggled a little bit, but I got to give the kid credit,” Reykdal said.
“For him not being as sharp as he’s been . . . his curveball wasn’t working very good, you know, to gut us through and get us out with just two runs was great on his part.
“And Jansy comes in and he does the job and he keeps them down.
“Hey, it falls on our offense. We’ve got to score runs. And we just didn’t do it.”
The league title is North Kitsap’s third straight. The Vikings (10-2, 13-4) earn the league’s top seed at the District 2/3 Tournament and will play at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds.
Port Angeles (9-3, 15-4) finishes second in the league and will open districts against either Steilacoom or River Ridge at Eastlake High School in Sammamish on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
“We knew we had a talented group. We had a lot of kids coming back [this season],” Reykdal said.
“And I told them in no uncertain terms we were going to play for a league championship. I had no doubt that we had the ability to do it.
“Am I disappointed that we didn’t have an opportunity to win it? Yeah. Or maybe [had] a little more drama in this game? You betcha. But it’s just one of those days.
“So I’m totally thrilled with our regular season. We earned the second spot, and that’s big.”
If the Riders win Saturday morning, they’ll play again that evening at 6:30 p.m. If they lost their first game, they’ll play a loser-out game at 3:30 p.m.
The district tournament resumes Wednesday, May 11, and concludes Saturday, May 14. The top six teams advance to regionals.
“We want to get farther than we went last year — we were two runs short of getting to regionals last year,” Reykdal said.
“So we’ll shoot for a district championship, and if we don’t get that, we’ll shoot for a regional berth. We’ll just take ‘er from there.
“There’s lots more baseball and lots more chances to make goals.”
North Kitsap 2, Port Angeles 0
North Kitsap 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 — 2 6 1
Port Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 1 0
WP- Milyard; LP- Bradley
Pitching Statistics
North Kitsap: Milyard 7 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 5 K.
Port Angeles: Bradley 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 4 K; Pederson 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, K.
Hitting Statistics
North Kitsap: Klingler 1-4, R; Gowin 1-2, BB, RBI; Milyard 1-2, HBP; Bower 1-3, RBI; N. Marcelino 1-2, BB; McCown 1-2, HBP.
Port Angeles: Bradley 1-3; Boyer 0-2, BB.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.