Editor’s Note: Port Angeles beat Steilacoom 4-3 on Tuesday night. More details will be published later.
PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles baseball team used a combination of thunder and speed to dominate Eatonville 8-1, winning their District 3 tournament opener and moving on to the double-elimination segment of the tourney.
The Riders had five extra-base hits, including a home run from Josiah Gooding, and stole six bases. Kody Williams also pitched his second straight complete-game victory, allowing seven hits and one earned run. He struck out six and walked two.
Also on Monday, the Sequim Wolves lost a close 2-1 district playoff game to Olympic. Sequim was eliminated from the postseason with the loss.
It was the Roughriders’ sixth-straight victory as Port Angeles clawed its way to a .500 record for the first time all season (10-10-1) in its final game at Civic Field. Among those 10 defeats are five one-run losses that could have gone either way, so the overall record is a bit misleading.
Williams threw just 75 pitches over seven innings. A total of 58 of them were strikes. This came off a seven-inning no-hitter against Kingston in his previous outing and four shutout innings against Bremerton on April 29. In his last 18 innings, Williams’ ERA is 0.39.
“Kody pitched his butt off. He’s been doing that all season. That’s the kind of player he is,” said coach Zac Moore. Moore also said the team ran the basepaths well, especially Brandt Perry, who finished with two stolen bases and two runs scored as a pinch-runner.
“My change up was working. My defense was right there for me. I’m not a strikeout guy. I like to keep my defense alive,” Williams said.
Gooding picked a perfect time to hit his first home run of the year.
“It was a 2-2 count and I saw the curve coming out of his hand and got in front of it,” Gooding said of his home run to deep left. It didn’t sound like a home run off the end of the bat, but Gooding’s towering drive carried well and it was a no-doubter over the fence as the Eatonville left fielder immediately turned his back and ran to the fence in a futile attempt to chase the ball down.
Moore said the team doesn’t focus on all those early one-run losses or the current six-game winning streak.
“We’ve moving on to the next game. We’ve put ourselves in a good position [in the playoffs],” he said.
The Riders played Steilacoom (14-5) on Tuesday with the final result after press deadline. Win or lose, Port Angeles will move on to play either Fife (14-8) or Orting (14-5) on Saturday. Port Angeles already beat Orting 14-3 in a nonleague game earlier this season.
Luke Flodstrom also had a big day, going 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Alex Angevine had a two-run triple and scored a run, while Ian Smithson had a double, a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored. Bryce DeLeon went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Look online at www. peninsuladailynews.com and in Thursday’s sports section for results of Tuesday’s game against Steilacoom.
Port Angeles 8, Eatonville 1
EV 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 1 7 2
PA 0 1 2 1 1 3 x — 8 11 0
Pitching
Port Angeles — Williams 7 IP, 7 H, ER, 6 K, 2 BB.
Hitting
Port Angeles — Gooding 2-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, SB; Flodstrom 3-3, 2B, RBI, BB; Angevine 1-4, 3B, R, 2 RBI; DeLeon 2-for-3, RBI; Smithson 1-2, 2B, 2 R, SB, BB; Shumway 1-4, RBI.
Olympic 2, Sequim 1
BREMERTON — Sequim had a heartbreaking end to its season, losing its loser-out district tournament opener 2-1 in a great pitchers’ duel.
Ethan Staples and Braydan White allowed just seven hits and two earned runs while striking out a combined 13 batters and walking none, more than good enough to win. But, Olympic’s Chase Beninger threw a complete-game five-hitter, allowing the Wolves just one earned run.
Sequim’s Devyn Dearing led off the seventh inning with a single and Bryant Laboy sacrificed him to second, but Beninger got a pop-up and a strikeout to end the game.
Olympic and Sequim finished tied for fourth in the Olympic League with identical 7-7 records. Olympic won two out of the three games between the teams.
Dearinger went 2-for-3, while White had a double and a walk. Zeke Schmadeke and Hunter Tennell also had hits.
Sequim’s season ends with an overall record of 8-13.
Olympic 2, Sequim 1
Seq. 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 — 1 5 3
Oly. 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 — 2 7 0
Pitching
Sequim — Staples 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 10 K; White IP, 3 K.
Hitting
Sequim — Dearinger 2-3; White 1-2, 2B; Tennell 1-3, R; Schmadeke 1-3.
