BREMERTON — Sequim survived five errors and shut down a Steilacoom rally in the top of the seventh to squeak past the Sentinels 6-5 in a Class 2A West Central District Tournament game at Kitsap County Fairgrounds on Wednesday.
The Wolves (14-6) advance to face Olympic League foe Olympic (12-10) in a winner-to-state, loser-out contest at 10 a.m. Saturday at Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma.
Sequim split a pair of games with the Trojans during league play, falling 10-0 in March and outslugging Olympic 15-13 late last month.
Against Steilacoom, the Wolves’ offense got things going early, plating two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Gavin Velarde led off with a single, stole second and third and scored on an error when James Grubb’s ground ball was misplayed by the Sentinels’ shortstop.
Austin Hilliard, who reached base on a walk, was later brought home on a line drive double to center field by Johnnie Young.
Ian Miller added a run in the second inning when he walked and eventually stole home.
Velarde put Sequim up 4-1 when he tripled with two outs in the bottom of the fourth and then stole home.
Grubb went five innings on the mound, allowing three unearned runs on four hits and four walks while striking out eight.
James Thayer allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits and two walks while striking out three in relief.
Hilliard came on with one on and none out in the top of the seventh and promptly allowed the potential winning run on base with a walk.
But Hilliard buckled down, recording a strikeout and getting the second out via an RBI ground out.
He closed out the contest by stranding the tying run at third with a three-pitch strikeout of Alex Brady.
Sequim 6, Steilacoom 5
Steilacoom 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 — 5 6 1
Sequim 2 1 0 1 2 0 X— 6 8 5
WP: Grubb LP: Burlingame
SV: Hilliard
Pitching
Steilacoom — Burlingame 4 IP, 6H, 6R, 6ER, 6BB, K; Sandvik 2 IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 3K.
Sequim — Grubb 5 IP, 4H, 3R, 0ER, 4BB, 8K; Thayer IP, 2H, 2R, ER, 2BB, 3K; Hilliard IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K.
Hitting
Steilacoom — Brady 2-5, 2B, R; Wiegman 2-4; Lemming 1-2, 2BB, R.
Sequim — Velarde 3-4, 3B, 3SB, 2R; Young 1-3, 2B, BB, RBI; Porter 1-3, R; Hilliard 0-1, R, 3BB; Miller 1-2, BB, R, RBI.
Port Angeles 1, White River 0
TACOMA — Colton McGuffey tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout and the Roughriders offense provided the run needed to survive the Hornets in a loser-out district game Wednesday at Franklin Pierce High School.
Port Angeles (13-7) advances to face Washington (9-8) on Saturday in a loser-out, winner-to-state contest at 12:30 p.m. back at Franklin Pierce.
“All day long he located his fastball and got ahead of hitters, but what was most impressive was his use of his offspeed stuff,” coach Karl Myers said of McGuffey.
“Colton and [catcher] Tyrus Beckett were dialed in with the pitch calling and always seemed to have the perfect pitch to keep their hitters off balance. Many of Colton’s strikeouts were on the breaking ball, he really had a great feel for that pitch.”
scored the game’s lone run in the top of the fourth inning.
With two outs, McGuffey walked and was replaced on the bases by speedy pinch runner Derek Bowechop. Tyrus Beckett was hit by a pitch and Carson Jackson loaded the bases when he also was hit by a pitch.
Luke Angevine then beat out an infield single that brought home Bowechop.
“Luke had our lone hit and it was a chopper past the mound, but that kid ran the best hard 90 [feet] of his career and beat it out to keep the inning alive and let the run score,” Myers said.
[I’m] proud of Luke.”
“We had five or six hard-hit balls right at guys, most with runners in scoring position. It was just one of those games. Our guys grinded it out regardless of what was or wasn’t going our way offensively and we came out with a huge win.”
The Riders drew two walks and were hit by pitches six times.
“We had lots of guys on and opportunities to score them but as mentioned we just couldn’t seem to find holes in the defense,” Myers said.
“The guys were solid all night behind Colt and we grinded one out. You’ve got to win all types of games if you’re going to be successful in the postseason because you never know what you’re going to see on the mound and our guys have proven all year that they never let a situation get the best of them.”
Port Angeles 1, White River
Port Angeles 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 — 1 1 1
White River 0 0 0 0 0 0 0— 0 3 0
WP: McGuffey LP: Selander
Pitching
Port Angeles — McGuffey 7IP, 3H, 0R, BB, 8K.
White River — Selander 6IP, H, ER, 2BB, 5HB, 5K; Madden IP, 0H, 0R.
Hitting
Port Angeles — Angevine 1-3, RBI.
White River — McNally 2-3, Lidstrom 1-2, 2B.
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Compiled from team reports. Email scores to sports@peninsuladailynews.com or phone 360-417-3525.
Sequim Wolves batter James Grubb swings at a pitch during a Distric playoff game against Steilacoom High School. Jeff Halstead / Peninsula Daily News
