PORT ANGELES — Wilder Baseball Club has some work to do if it wants to win its host tournament.
Wilder opened the 18th annual Dick Brown Memorial Firecracker Classic with a 1-2 record over the first two days of play Thursday and Friday at Civic Field.
The area Senior Babe Ruth team opened with a 3-1 defeat against Lakeside Recovery in Wilder’s tournament opener.
Lakeside Recovery, the home team after a pre-game coin flip, did all the work it needed to in the bottom of the first inning.
The Bellevue squad took advantage of Wilder starting pitcher James Grubb, drawing a leadoff walk, followed by a single and a three-run home run for an early 3-0 lead.
“James shut them down after that,” Wilder coach Mike Politika said.
“He settled down and pitched pretty well the rest of the way.”
Grubb allowed two hits and four walks in his next four innings on the mound and exited after five innings having struck out eight.
Wilder managed nine hits in the game but only one brought home a run — a Travis Paynter RBI double that scored Eathen Boyer.
“Not enough timely hits that’s for sure,” Politika said.
“We had a lot of base runners, but just couldn’t convert.”
Wilder bounced back for a 5-1 victory against Grays Harbor Longshore in the first game of Friday night’s doubleheader.
Tanner Rhodefer went six innings on the mound for Wilder, allowing one run on four hits and five walks, while striking out nine.
“This was his best outing of the year,” Politika said. “He got out of trouble in that third inning and made some key pitches to end their threat.”
Rhodefer allowed one run in the third, working out of a bases-loaded jam by getting a flyout to centerfield from Grays Harbor’s No. 3 hitter.
Wilder broke through offensively with a two-run fourth inning.
“It was the third time through the lineup for [Ben] Basden and Grubb, and we were able to string some stuff together,” Politika said.
Basden led off the inning with a double and Grubb reached on an error.
A sacrifice fly by Tanner Gochnour and Evan Hurn’s RBI ground out put Wilder in the lead 2-1.
Wilder added an insurance run on an RBI double by Travis Paynter in the top of the fifth inning.
“Matt Hendry got a leadoff walk, stole second and came home on Paynter’s double,” Politika said.
“Matt’s been tearing it up on the basepaths for us.”
Wilder 5, Gray Harbor 1
Wilder 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 — 5 7 0
Grays Harbor 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 — 1 6 2
WP- Rhodefer
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Rhodefer 6 IP, 4 H, R, 5 BB, 9 K; Rodocker IP, 2 H, BB, K.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Basden 3-4, 2 2B, R; Chapman 2-2; Bradley 1-2, RBI; Gochnour 1-2, RBI; Paynter 1-2, 2B, RBI;
Centerfield 16, Wilder 11
Wilder went back-and-forth with Centerfield Roosters in what Politika described as a “barnburner” in Friday’s nightcap.
After allowing four runs in both the first and second innings to trail 8-0, Wilder bounced back with a seven-run bottom of the second.
“We showed a lot of resilience to get back in it,” Politika said.
“We took advantage of some timely hitting on our part in the bottom half.
“We strung out seven hits and four base on balls that inning.”
Hurn had a two-run triple and Paynter added an RBI single as Wilder clawed its way back in the game.
A two-out, bases-clearing RBI triple by Hurn put Wilder up 11-10 in the fifth inning.
First-year Wilder player Chance Wilson was tagged with the loss after allowing four of Centerfield’s six runs in the sixth inning.
Wilder still has a shot at the championship game as all six teams suffered at least one loss through the tournament’s first two days.
“We have our horses going for us on the mound [Curan Bradley and Paynter],” Politika said.
“So we need to win our games and get a little help to reach the championship.”
The tournament continues today with the fifth-place game at 10 a.m.; the third-place game at 1 p.m.; and the championship at 4 p.m.
Centerfield 16, Wilder 11
Centerfield 4 4 0 2 0 6 0 — 16 14 5
Wilder 0 7 0 1 3 0 0 — 11 9 3
LP- Wilson
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Pederson 1 2/3 IP, 8 R, 6 H, 3 BB; Shimko 2 1/3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K; Wilson 1 1/3 IP 4 R, 2 H, 3 BB, K; Rodocker 2/3 IP, 2 R, H, BB, 3 HBP.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Basden 0-2, 2 BB, 2 R; Rhodefer 1-4, R; Hurn 2-4, 2 R, 2 3B, 5 RBI; Hendry 1-3, R; Grubb 2-3, R, Rodocker 1-1, RBI; Paynter 1-4, R, RBI
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.