BREMERTON — The third time, Port Angeles and North Kitsap’s third meeting of the season, was decidedly not the charm for the Roughriders in a 9-2 loss Saturday in the Class 2A West Central District baseball semifinals at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds.
Port Angeles (17-4) previously clinched a state tournament berth with a win over Steilacoom last week, but will have to settle for the district’s third or fourth seed.
“It’s a bummer,” coach Karl Myers said. “Winning a district championship was something the boys were working toward, but it’s like I told them, ‘this isn’t a loss that will define your season or even end your season’ — there’s plenty more to accomplish.”
Port Angeles, which had beat the Vikings and their ace pitcher, University of San Francisco bound-Ryan Hecker, twice in the regular season, struggled both offensively and defensively in Saturday’s contest.
“It was an uncharacteristic game for us,” Myers said.
“I think Hecker had the best outing against us that he’s had and we didn’t challenge him enough and weren’t aggressive enough in our approaches at the plate.”
Hecker started the two previous games against Port Angeles, but wasn’t nearly as sharp in those contests as he was Saturday, keeping the Riders hitless through the first three innings and eventually allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in six innings of work.
He also drove in three runs on the day, the first coming on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning. That play could have been the third out of the inning, but Port Angeles previously gave up a two-base error on a dropped fly ball to right field that allowed North Kitsap to take the lead.
The Vikings plated three more in the top of the third, putting together some hard singles and a walk off Port Angeles starter Ethan Flodstrom to score two runs, the third coming on a bases-loaded walk for a 4-0 North Kitsap lead.
Baserunners were at a premium for Port Angeles, and when the Riders did get runners on base, as they did in the bottom of the third and fourth innings — Port Angeles batters couldn’t break through against Hecker and drive in runs.
The Vikings batted around in the top of the sixth, putting five runs across on three hits and two errors against Riders’ reliever Brody Merritt.
During a three-batter stretch of the sixth, two North Kitsap batters reached on errors by Merritt (one fielding a bunt, one on a wide throw to first after fielding a bunt) as the Vikings set the table for the meat of their lineup.
“We pride ourselves on our ability to make those plays in the field, particularly our ability to field bunts and we really struggled in that area today,” Myers said.
“That’s something we will clean up.”
No. 3 hitter Kyle Green roped a hard single up the middle to score a run and Hecker drove in two more on a deep bomb to right field that narrowly missed leaving the ballpark, instead bouncing off the wall 320 feet from home plate.
Port Angeles got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth when Carson Jackson led off with a double and scored on an RBI single by Flodstrom and McGuffey followed with a lined show down the right-field line to score Joel Wood who had reached base on a walk.
The Riders loaded the bases with two outs in that inning and loaded the bases again in their last at-bats but couldn’t conjure the magic of their 7-run rally over the Vikings for the Olympic League title back on April 30.
Port Angeles played the loser of a game between Highline and Fife for third/fourth place late Saturday afternoon. Results of that game were after press deadline.
Regardless of the outcome of that game, the Riders will play a 2A state tournament contest at Joe Martin Field in Bellingham next Saturday.
North Kitsap 9, Port Angeles 2
NK 1 0 3 0 0 5 0 — 9
PA 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 — 2
WP: Hecker LP: Flodstrom
Pitching
North Kitsap — North Kitsap — Hecker 6IP, 2ER, 4H, 2BB, HB, 8K; Storm 1IP, 0ER, 2H, BB, K.
Port Angeles — Flodstrom 3IP, 4R, 3ER, 3H, 2BB, 2HB, 2K; Merritt 2 1/3IP, 5R, 3ER, 5H, BB, 2K; Shimko 2/3IP, 0R, 0H, K; Seibel IP, 0R, 0H, K.
Hitting
North Kitsap — Hecker 2-2, 2B, SF, R, 3RBI; Green 2-3, BB, 2R, 2RBI; Robbins 0-2, RBI; Fisher 1-4, HBP, 3R.
Port Angeles — Jackson 2-4, R, 2B; Flodstrom 1-2, BB, RBI; McGuffey 2-4, RBI; Wood 1-3, R.
Charles Wright 5, Chimacum 0
TACOMA — Despite a strong pitching performance, Chimacum baseball’s playoff run came to an end when they ran into an even tougher pitcher from Charles Wright, who blanked the Cowboys in a 5-0 loss.
Charles Wright’s Henry Lenaberg pitched a complete-game three-hitter while striking out nine Cowboys and walking none.
Chimacum’s Issac Purser and Cole Dotson pitched well enough to win, but the Cowboys simply couldn’t muster any offense against Lenaberg.
Purser went five innings and gave up just four hits and four earned runs, while striking out three and walking three. Doston pitched the sixth, giving up a hit and a run.
Matthew Bainbridge had two of the three hits for the Cowboys, while Arron Serrato had the other hit. Bainbridge and Serrato also each stole bases.
Charles Wright used its speed to create much of its offense, stealing a total of 15 bases.
Chimacum finished second in the Olympic League 1A Division and won a game at the West Central District 3 1A tournament, beating Seattle Christian. The Cowboys finish the season at 10-10.
Charles Wright 5, Chimacum 0
Chim. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 3 1
CW 0 0 0 1 3 1 x — 5 5 1
WP: Lenaburg LP: Purser
Pitching
Chimacum — Purser 5IP, 4H, 4ER, 3K, 3BB; Dotson 1IP, 1H, 0ER, K, BB.
Charles Wright — Lenaburg 7IP, 3H, 9K, 0BB.
Hitting
Chimacum — Bainbridge 2-3, SB; Serrato 1-3, SB.
Charles Wright — B. Lundberg 2-3, 3RBI, 2SB; Lenaburg 1-4, R, 2SB; A. Lundberg 1-2, 2R, 2BB, 3SB; Ater 1-3, R, SB.
Quilcene 8, Lake Quinault 3
BREMERTON — The Quilcene baseball team qualified for the state 1B tournament by beating Lake Quinault 8-3 Saturday at the Tri-District 1B Tournament.
On Thursday, Quilcene was beaten by Naselle 17-0 in the Tri-District semifinals, putting the Rangers in a do-or-die game Saturday against Lake Quinault.
Quilcene takes the No. 3 seed out of district with the win. The Rangers begin play in the state 1B tournament Saturday at Winlock High School against the No. 1 seed out of District 4.
Port Angeles’ Brody Merritt delivers a pitch to the plate against North Kitsap on Saturday at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds in Silverdale. Port Angeles lost 9-2, but has already qualified for the state 2A tournament. (Mark Krulish/Kitsap News Group)
