PORT ANGELES — The 14-year-old North Olympic Junior Babe Ruth team ran into a bumpy part of the state-playoff road against defending state champion Lynden Lyons on Thursday at Volunteer Field.
Lynden defeated host Port Angeles 10-6 in pool play, largely on uncharacteristic defensive miscues by the Olympic team.
The Lyons take the lead in the American Division at 2-0 while Olympic falls into second place at 2-1. The top two teams advance to the championship bracket Sunday.
Port Angeles finishes pool play today against Sequim at 5:30 p.m. at Volunteer. A Olympic victory would give the team second place in its division and the No. 2 seed in Sunday’s championship round.
Skagit Elite also is 2-1 in the American Division but lost 9-3 to Olympic on Tuesday, giving the tie-breaker to Port Angeles.
Sequim had a bye Thursday and will finish pool play against Port Angeles today and against Moses Lake on Saturday at noon at Volunteer Field.
On Thursday against Lynden, Nick Tweter of Port Angeles allowed only seven hits in yet another fine complete-game performance for Olympic.
After scoring two runs in the top of the first, Olympic struggled to put up any offense against Lynden’s Zach Vis.
Port Angeles finally chased Vis in the seventh by mounting a late charge.
After scoring four runs, with the bases loaded, Olympic brought the tying run to the plate.
Matt Meyer ended the drama, recording the final out to complete the win for Lynden.
Olympic hitters were led by Jack Hansen with two, and one hit each by Coleman Tomason, Tweter, Marcus Konopaski and Wes King.