TACOMA — The Port Angeles baseball team tries to continue its season today in a loser-out West Central District 2A playoff game at Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma.
The Roughriders, 10-8 overall and the Olympic League’s No. 4 seed, will take on South Puget Sound/Seamount No. 5 seed Lindbergh of Renton, which finished 12-6 overall and in third place in the Seamount League.
The game starts at 5 p.m.
The winner will advance to play South Puget Sound champion White River in a seeding game Wednesday at Franklin Pierce at 5 p.m.
Wednesday’s winner advances to the district championship semifinals Saturday while the loser falls to the consolation bracket Saturday with a chance to battle for the fifth and sixth seeds to the state playoffs.
The Riders are finishing the season strong, beating Kingston 5-3 in the final regular-season game before defeating Klahowya 4-3 on a walk-off hit by Michael Konopaski in a league seeding game last Wednesday.
The only recent blip was a 4-1 loss to Olympic on Friday in another league seeding game, this time for the third and fourth seeds.
The Lindbergh Eagles last were at state in 2011 when they went 1-1.
The Riders have a shot at advancing in the district playoffs if they cut down on their errors, coach Chad Wagner said.
“We can’t make mistakes, and we have to have timely hitting,” Wagner said after the Olympic loss Friday.
“Playoff teams are going to be just as good as us, if not better, but if we execute and out-work our competition, we will win some games.”
Softball
Port Townsend 10, Vashon Island 4
VASHON — The Redskins finished the season on a high note in a nonleague victory against fellow 1A school Vashon Island.
It was only the second win of the season for Port Townsend, which has been struggling in the bigger 2A Olympic League, going 1-15 in league and 2-16 overall.
But there’s a silver lining to this season as the Redskins have been much more competitive.
“We have been hitting better than we have in years,” Port Townsend coach Heather Polizzi said.
“I don’t remember us scoring this many runs in a season; in some games we scored eight, nine or 10 runs.
“When we are on, we are a hitting machine. And up against 2A pitchers. I am so proud of our 1A softball team. We gave several teams a serious run, [such as] Olympic and Bremerton.
“There is always next year.”
Against Vashon on Friday, the Redskins exploded for 10 runs for the easy win.
Rilke Rutenbeck went 3 for 4 with a double while Gen Polizzi was 2 for 2 with a double and Mia Henderson also was a perfect 2 for 2.
Megan Lee went 2 for 4.
Gen Polizzi started the game on the mound, striking out four and walking four in five innings while Lee threw the final two innings, walking three.
Track and Field
McMullin sets school record
POULSBO — Sequim senior Jasmine McMullin did more than set a meet record at the Olympic League championships at North Kitsap High School on Saturday.
McMullin was named the female field event athlete of the meet after she exploded to a meet record distance of 36 feet, 4.5 inches while winning the triple jump event.
McMullin’s mark in the triple jump also is a new school record, eclipsing the old mark set by Haleigh Harrison in 2011 of 34-10.5.
At the league meet, McMullin also was runner-up in long jump with a leap of 16-04.75, and was a member of Sequim’s fifth-place 4×400 and seventh-place 4×100 relay teams.