PREP BASEBALL: Port Angeles earns a wild win over North Kitsap

PORT ANGELES — There’s myriad different ways to win a baseball game, and Port Angeles proved that in rallying from a five-run deficit to earn an 11-6 win over North Kitsap on Tuesday at Civic Field.

The Roughriders (8-2) kept their outside shot at an Olympic League championship alive with three regular season games left to play. Port Angeles trails Bainbridge (10-1) but split the season series with the Spartans, so a shot at a shared title or even an outright championship is still alive.

That potential outcome looked unlikely after the Riders allowed four North Kitsap runs in the top of the second inning, two coming on throwing errors.

Port Angeles answered, batting around the lineup in a wild six-run third inning that featured a leadoff walk, an intentional walk, the plunking of three straight Port Angeles batters with pitches, a passed ball and just one lonely hit, Tanner Price’s two-run bloop single into left field that put the Riders ahead for good, 6-5.

Price’s single came against reliever Cole Edwards.

“Off the top of my head, I can’t think of anything like that [inning],” Port Angeles coach Casey Dietz said.

“We just talked about everybody doing their job to keep the line moving one pitch at a time, one at bat at a time, and we embodied that during that inning. It wasn’t pretty, but we found ways to get it done whether that be standing our ground and taking a pitch, whether that be to put the bat on the ball and find some grass out there or making them defend it; whether it was pretty or not, we found a way to keep that thing going. Once that happens, the energy and enthusiasm keeps building.

“The energy was contagious, and we kept it going.”

Port Angeles shortstop Wyatt Hall, the recipient of two intentional walks in the game, agreed about the boost the inning provided.

“It was weird with all the hit batters. They handed us a lot of those runs,” Hall said. “We had the one hit. They had three guys at 0-2 [counts], and they ended up hitting all of us, so I guess good job to us for not chasing anything. We got all our energy back, and they fell off.”

The Riders added three more runs in the fourth. Jacob Felton belted a stand-up double down the left-field line; Hall was again intentionally walked, this time with only Felton aboard, and Adam Watkins singled to load the bases. Port Angeles scored two runs on a pair of wild pitches, and Ty Bradow’s RBI single gave the Riders some breathing room at 9-5.

“They gave us extra base runners,” Hall said. “Walking me the second time was just adding another base runner. I’m not sure why they did that.”

Back-to-back bunt singles by Michael Soule and Dru Clark, followed by a bloop RBI single by Felton and a sacrifice fly by Hall added two more runs in the fifth for Port Angeles.

North Kitsap didn’t go all that quietly, stranding seven runners over the final four innings.

The Riders were lifted by some solid defense, including a great defensive play by second baseman Clark and Felton, Port Angeles’ catcher. Clark ranged to his left on a ball hit in the gap between first and second bases, fielded the tough shot and with no play available at first base was able to uncork an accurate throw to Felton behind the plate.

“A phenomenal play,” Dietz said. “To be able to turn his body around and cut his momentum this way and get it redirected to make a throw and for Jake to stay with it and make a tag?”

Dietz was proud of his team for staying with it, despite some hurdles.

“We kept grinding,” Dietz said. “Pitching-wise, we weren’t as sharp tonight. We had some big counts. We weren’t able to always get that leadoff out, and we put our guys in some tough positions pitching-wise and defense-wise. You want to limit those high-stress innings, those high-stress at-bats, but we found a way to get it done.”

Port Angeles visits North Kitsap (7-4) today.

Port Angeles 11, North Kitsap 6

NK 0 4 1 0 0 0 1 — 6 11 2

PA 0 0 0 6 3 2 x — 11 9 3

WP: Woods LP: C. Edwards

Pitching

North Kitsap ­— Gore 2.2IP, 6R, 0H, 4HB, 2BB, 3K; C. Edwards 3.1IP, 5R, 8H, 2K; Holmes IP, 2K.

Port Angeles — Watkins 3IP, 5R, 6H, BB, 2K; Woods 3IP, 0R, 4H, BB, 2K; Flodstrom IP, R, H, BB, HB, K.

Batting

North Kitsap — Hayden 1-2, 2RBI; Sorenson 1-3, RBI; Bower 1-4, Z. Edwards 1-3, HBP; Gore 1-4, 2B; Brockett 1-2.

Port Angeles — Price 1-2, 2RBI; Felton 2-4, 2B, RBI; Hall 1-1, 2IBB, SF, RBI; Bradow 1-2, HBP, 2RBIs; Watkins 1-4, RBI; Soule 1-2, BB; Woods 1-1.

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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-406-0674 or mcarman@peninsuladaily news.com.