WENATCHEE — The Port Angeles Lefties showed in their first West Coast League series that they can pitch and they can hit.
Now, they just have to do both in the same game.
The Lefties got a great pitching performance in their WCL opener against the Wenatchee AppleSox on Friday, allowing just two runs over the first seven innings and four runs overall. Unfortunately, a pair of Wenatchee pitchers held the Lefties to just two hits in a 4-1 loss.
The Lefties’ bats woke up in their next game Saturday night, pounding out 14 hits and scoring 13 runs. Unfortunately, this time Port Angeles’ pitching struggled, giving up 16 hits as Wenatchee won a wild back-and-forth game 16-13.
In Friday’s game, Joshua Verkuilen (Chaffey College) went three innings, allowing just one hit and striking out three while walking three. He ended up being the hard-luck losing pitcher. Kole Acker pitched four innings, allowing six hits and one earned run with a walk and two strikeouts. Ryan Wike (Univ. of Jamestown) pitched one inning, allowing three hits and an earned run.
Colin Spear (Nevada) and Jeremy Giesegh (Cal State, San Bernardino) both had singles for the Lefties with Giesegh collecting the team’s lone RBI.
The Wenatchee pair of Blake Reece (Central Washington) and Stephen Hammergren (Lower Columbia), combined to allow just two hits while striking out nine.
Saturday’s game could not have been more different. The Lefties got behind 4-0 but rallied with a five-run fourth inning. Wenatchee got back up 15-7, but Port Angeles scored five runs in the seventh and eight innings to make it 15-12. They couldn’t quite pull out the win.
Several Lefties had huge days at the plate, led by Giesegh, who went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, two steals and two RBIs. Roberto Nunez (Embry-Riddle), who bat .330 last year for the Lefties, went 2-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Kleveno was 2-for-5 with a run scored and a walk, while Travis Helm (Central Washington) was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBIs, a sac fly and a walk. Zach Blair (Mount Hood CC) also hit a double and drove in a run.
Wenatchee hit a pair of home runs, including one from Kade Benavidez (New Mexico State), who went 3-for-5 with two doubles and five RBIs.
The Lefties and AppleSox played the final game of their series Sunday night after press deadline. Look online today at www.peninsuladailynews.com.
Wenatchee 16, Port Angeles 13
PA 0 0 0 5 0 2 3 2 1 — 13 14 1
Wen. 0 1 3 3 5 3 0 1 x — 16 16 2
WP: Boesel LP: Ricken
Pitching
Port Angeles — Ricken 3.2 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, K; Butigan 1.2 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 3 BB; Stuart 2.2 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 3 K.
Wenatchee — DelVecchio 3.2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 4 K; Boesel 2 IP, 3 H, 4 K; Boyd IP, 4 H, ER, BB, K; Campbell 2.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
Hitting
Port Angeles — Giesegh 3-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, K; Kleveno 2-5, R, BB, SB; Nunez 2-6, 2 R, RBI; Helm 1-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB; Blair 1-3, 2B, RBI.
Wenatchee — Dougherty 5-6, 3 R, 3 RBI; Benavidez 3-4, HR, 2 2B, 2 R, 5 RBI; Hartman 3-5, 2B, 3 R, RBI, BBGianni 1-3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI; Clark 1-3, R, 3 RBI.
Wenatchee 4, Port Angeles 1
PA 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 1 2 1
Wen. 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 x — 4 10 0
WP: Hammergren LP: Verkulien
Pitching
Port Angeles — Acker 4 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 2 K; Verkulien 3 IP, H, ER, 3 BB, 3 K; Wike IP, 3 H, ER.
Wenatchee — Reece 6 IP, H, 2 BB, 5 K; Seely ER, 2 BB; Hammergren 3 IP, H, BB, 4 K.
Hitting
Port Angeles — Giesegh 1-4, RBI, BB; Spear 1-2.
Wenatchee — Hartman 2-3, R, 2 2B, 2 BB; Greb 2-4, 2B, R; Scheffler 2-4, R.