SEQUIM — Midway through the season, the Chimacum Cowboys baseball team is starting to look like a Class 1A contender once again.
Coming off a doubleheader sweep of Southwest Washington League powers Castle Rock and Rochester last week, the Cowboys flexed their muscle a little closer to home.
Chimacum pounded out 15 hits, 13 of them singles, on its way to a 17-0 mercy-rule victory over former Nisqually League rival Sequim on Thursday.
Pitchers Dylan Brown-Bishop and Landon Cray combined for a four-hit shutout to help last year’s 1A runner-up win its seventh straight game and move to 8-1 on the year.
“I think we’re right on track,” Chimacum head coach Jim Dunn said. “But we’re having to juggle some things right now.
“It kind of shows a lot about the team that we’re able to push through that.”
The win put the Cowboys’ mark against Olympic League teams at 2-1 this season, including a 12-8 victory over first-place Kingston.
“I think they can beat anybody when Cray is on the hill,” said Sequim head coach Dave Ditlefsen, whose team was playing its fourth game in four days.
“The better team won today. They out-fielded us, they out-hit us, they out-pitched us.”
Goes from bad to worse
Thursday’s game started out bad for the Wolves — three first-inning errors — and got progressively worse.
Chimacum plated 13 runs in the first three innings, and five different players finished with two hits on the game.
“It didn’t matter [who we pitched],” Ditlefsen said. “They crushed whoever we threw.”
Brown-Bishop (1-0) got the win on the mound, giving up four hits and no runs in four innings of work.
Cray takes over
Cray came on in relief in the bottom of the fifth and struck out two of three batters.
“He’s probably the best pitcher we’ve seen,” Ditlefsen said of Cray. “He’s just tough.”
Chimacum was without a pair of starters in the game, one because of eligibility issues and another because of a college visit.
That didn’t seem to matter too much, however, with Cray, Brown-Bishop, Austin McConnell, Quinn Eldridge and Carter Tjemsland all punishing Wolves’ pitching.
Sequim’s Jake Hudson was tabbed with the loss on the mound, unable to recover from the early-game gaffes in his 2 1/3 innings pitched.
“We still need to get better right now,” Dunn said.
“We’re missing some kids in some spots, but that’s OK. I had three swing players play very efficient today, and a couple of them got their first varsity hits of the year.
“My core guys, they can carry us.”
Sequim (6-3 overall) will round out its grueling five-game week with a road trip to Sultan on Saturday.
Chimacum doesn’t play again until Tuesday, when it heads to Cascade Christian in a game that has massive Nisqually League implications.
Chimacum 17, Sequim 0
Chimacum 3 3 7 4 0 X X — 17 15 0
Sequim 0 0 0 0 0 X X — 0 4 5
WP- Brown-Bishop (1-0); LP- Hudson (0-1)
Pitching Statistics
Chimacum: Brown-Bishop 4IP, 4H, 3BB, 6K; Cray IP, 2K.
Sequim: Hudson 2.1IP, 6ER, 9R; Montelius 1.2IP; Ignani IP.
Hitting Statistics
Chimacum: Cray 2-4 (3B, RBI, 3R); McConnell 2-4 (3RBI, 2R); Eldridge 2-3 (2RBI, 2R); Brown-Bishop 2-4 (2B, R); Tjemsland 2-4 (3RBI).
Sequim: Hueter 1-1 (BB).