CHIMACUM — Finally, the Chimacum baseball team may actually get some competition.
“Oh, it’s coming whether we want it to or not,” Chimacum coach Jim Dunn said about the increased competition after the Cowboys pounded fellow Nisqually League foe Vashon Island into the ground 12-2 in five innings during a raging rainstorm Wednesday.
The No. 1-ranked Class 1A team in the state blitzed through league play at 12-0, barely working up a sweat, and now has 10-run Vashon all three times the two teams have played.
The 19-1 Cowboys, losing early in the year only to 2A North Kitsap, is headed to state for the fifth time in six years.
Dunn is expecting nothing but good competition from here on out.
The next step for Chimacum is a tri-district doubleheader to determine seeding Saturday at Skagit Valley Community College in Mount Vernon.
The Cowboys first play at 1 p.m. against Wednesday’s winner between Friday Harbor and Bellevue Christian in the tri-district semifinals.
The two semifinal winners meet for the first and second seeds to regionals later on Saturday while the losers are in a playoff for the third and fourth seeds.
Three combine for two-hitter
Dunn used three pitchers against the Pirates on Wednesday to keep them all fresh.
“I wanted to be sure everybody was available Saturday,” he said.
Ace Landon Cray, Austin McConnell and Dylan Brown-Bishop combined for a two-hitter with Cray pitching the first two innings, McConnell (3-0) the next two and Brown-Bishop the final inning of the mercy-rule game.
Cray struck out six in his two innings but was saddled with two unearned runs in the first from a Chimacum error.
But those were the only two runs given up by the Cowboys as they broke the game open with 10 runs in the third.
McConnell and Brown-Bishop had two strikeouts each during their turns on the mound.
Cray, who keeps breaking the school home run record, pushed the number to nine with a solo blast against the Pirates.
He was walked twice, scored three runs and had an RBI while also being named Nisqually League MVP for the third year in a row Wednesday.
Cray is a junior.
“Landon hasn’t just broken the home run record, he has shattered it,” Dunn said.
McConnell, meanwhile, hit his first homer of the year — a three-run shot — ending with four RBIs and scoring two runs.
Quinn Eldridge had three RBIs and scored a run for the Cowboys.
Chimacum 12, Vashon 2, 5 innings
Vashon 2 0 0 0 0 x x — 2 2 1
Chimacum 1 0 10 0 1 x x — 12 10 1
WP- McConnell (3-0)
Pitching Statistics
Chimacum: Cray 2IP, 6K, 0H, 0ER; McConnell 2IP, 2K; Brown-Bishop 1IP, 2K; all three pitchers combined for two hits.
Hitting Statistics
Chimacum: Cray 1-2, HR (9), 3R, RBI, 2BB; Manix 2-2, 2R, RBI; McConnell 2-3, 2R, HR (1), 4 RBIs; Eldridge 2-3, 3RBIs, R; Cornachione 1-3, 2RBIs; Nordbergh 2-2, 2B, R.
Riders rained out
BREMERTON — The Port Angeles-Interlake Class 2A bi-district baseball game was rained out Wednesday.
The contest has been moved to today at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds starting at 4 p.m.
The Roughriders, the No. 11 bi-district seed, will battle third seed Interlake of Bellevue for a berth in the championship semifinals Saturday.
The loser is dropped into the consolation bracket against Eatonville, which lost 5-0 to Kingston in the first round Tuesday.
Girls Tennis PA at league
POULSBO — The Roughriders wrapped up the Olympic League Tournament by securing the third seed in doubles and the sixth seed in singles.
The Port Angeles duo of Alexis Corn and Laney Boyd defeated Lindsey Wicklein and Erika Daniels of Kingston 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
“We got off to a bit of a slow start, but once Laney and Alexis found their groove, they played some great tennis,” coach Brian Gundersen said.
Locking down the sixth seed for Port Angeles was junior Shayla Bohman.
Bohman was defeated by Sydney Crabtree of North Kitsap 6-2, 6-1.
“I am so happy for Shayla that she was able to finish in the top six and qualify for subdistricts,” Gundersen said.
“She has worked very hard this season and it paid off during this tournament.”
Next up for the Riders is the subdistrict tournament this Saturday at North Kitsap High School.
There will be 16 entries in the singles and doubles brackets.
Those players finishing in the top 12 will qualify for the district tournament in Tacoma next week.
Lacrosse Mountaineers 7, North Kitsap 6
POULSBO — The Olympic Mountaineers held off a late charge by the Vikings to hold on for the Olympic League win Tuesday.
The victory gives the Mountaineers a tie for third place with North Kitsap.
The two teams will play again today in playoff game on a field to be determined.
The Mountaineers jumped out to a quick lead in the first quarter to take a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
North Kitsap held the Mountaineers scoreless in the second quarter while adding two of there own, forcing a 4-4 tie at half.
Keegan Gallagher and Joey Hall found the back of the net in the third quarter to boost the Mountaineers to a 6-4 lead going into the final period.
Jacob Dostie added one of his three goals early in the fourth to give the Mountaineers a 7-4 lead.
But with 1:54 to go in the game, North Kitsap was able to find a opening to close the game to a two-goal lead, and then with only 34 seconds to go, North scored to finish within one.
The Mountaineers were led by Dostie with three goals, Gallagher with two and Joey Hall and Brendon Carpenter with one each.
Julian Walls had 18 saves in goal on 24 shots.