PORT ANGELES — Wilder Baseball, an elite team of 16- to 18-year-old players from the North Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, wasn’t connecting on all cylinders at the plate last weekend, dropping three of four games to Toyota Baseball of Bellevue.
Wilder was infused with several new players this past week after some area high school teams were knocked out of state competition, and the team just wasn’t meshing right with all the new blood, according to manager Rob Merritt.
“We played pretty well overall, but we didn’t swing the bat well,” he said.
“We had good pitching and played good defense.”
Toyota swept two games Saturday, winning 4-2 and 5-3.
Sunday shutout
Wilder bounced back with a solid 5-0 shutout in Sunday’s first game but then lost 10-2 in the nightcap.
“Most of the weekend, our approach to the plate wasn’t good,” Merritt said.
“We weren’t making good decisions at certain pitch counts, and we weren’t doing things like trying to hit the ball to right field with a runner on second base.”
Merritt had a talk with his team before Sunday’s game, and the players took a long batting practice.
That seemed to help.
“On Sunday, we had a better approach at the plate, and had much better at bats,” Merritt said.
“We had tougher outs.”
George Marinan of Kingston, Wesley Giddings of Port Angeles and Clark Rose of Klahowya combined for the shutout in Sunday’s 5-0 game.
Marinan (1-0) threw the first four innings, spreading out six hits while striking out two, while Giddings pitched for an inning, and Rose threw the final two innings, earning three strikeouts.
Giddings and Rose gave up only four hits the final three innings while Toyota loaded the bases a couple of times against Marinan in the first four innings.
Double plays helped keep Toyota from scoring.
Cole Uvila of Port Angeles smacked a triple, scored a run and had two RBIs in the game, while Connor Gauge of Port Angeles knocked in two runs and scored a run.
Easton Napiontek of Port Angeles had an RBI, while Marinan scored a run for Wilder.
In Saturday’s first game, Wilder led 1-0 going into the seventh inning, but Toyota scored four in the top of the seventh and gave up just one to Wilder in the bottom of the seventh to win 4-2.
Port Townsend’s Kyle Kelly had a standout game on the mound for Wilder, giving up just five hits and no runs while striking out five and walking two in five innings.
Sequim’s Jake Hudson pitched the sixth inning, getting three outs on just six pitches.
But Hudson (0-1) struggled in the seventh as he walked the first batter, hit the second with a pitch and then a bunt for a single and a bad throw on the play gave up the first two runs.
The inning went downhill from there.
Kelly also had an RBI in the game.
In Saturday’s second game, Toyota took a quick 3-0 lead in the first but Wilder bounced back with two runs in the bottom of the first to keep it close.
Wilder tied it with a run in the fourth but Toyota went ahead for good with two in the fifth.
Justin Straight of Olympic League champion North Kitsap went the first four innings on the mound, getting a no-decision.
Giddings (1-1) pitched the final two innings.
Straight went 2 for 3 at the plate and scored two runs while Napiontek ripped a two-run homer in the first inning.
Sequim’s Tyler Campbell and Kelly each had a hit in the game.
Wilder Baseball next will play three games this coming weekend in a home-and-away series against Kitsap American.
The two teams will play a doubleheader at Civic Field starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, and then they play a single game in Bremerton on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.
The site for Sunday’s game will be played at either the Legion Field or at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds.
Wilder 5, Toyota 0
Sunday, Game 1
Toyota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 10 1
Wilder 0 5 0 0 0 0 x — 5 8 0
WP- Marinan (1-0)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Marinan 4 IP, 0 R, 6 H, 2 K; Giddings 1 IP,; Rose 2 IP, 3 K.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Uvila 1-3, 3B, 2 RBIs, R; Napiontek 1-2, RBI; Marinan 1-2, R; Gouge 1-3, 2 RBIs, R.
Toyota 10, Wilder 2
Sunday, Game 2
Toyota 0 0 5 2 0 0 3 — 10 10 2
Wilder 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 — 2 7 2
LP- Uvila (0-1)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Uvila 3 IP; Dean 2 IP,; Hudson 2 IP.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Straight 1-2, R, BB; Napiontek 1-1, R, 2 BB; Marinan 1-2, BB; Mi. Konopaski 1-3, 2B.
Toyota 4, Wilder 2
Saturday, Game 1
Toyota 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 — 4 7 2
Wilder 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 — 2 6 1
LP- Hudson (0-1)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Kelly 5 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 5 K, 2 BB; Hudson 2 IP.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Napiontek 1-2, BB; Marinan 1-3, R; Kelly 1-3, RBI.
Toyota 5, Wilder 3
Saturday, Game 2
Toyota 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 — 5 7 1
Wilder 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 — 3 6 0
LP- Giddings (1-1)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Straight 4 IP; Giddings 3 IP.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Straight 2-3, 2 R; Napiontek 1-2, HR, 2 RBIs; Campbell 1-3; Kelly 1-3.