Olympic League standings
(as of March 28)
Team Lg. Over.
North Kitsap 1-0 3-2
Sequim 1-0 4-1
Kingston 0-0 0-1
Olympic 0-0 1-1
Port Angeles 0-0 3-1
Bremerton 0-1 3-2
North Mason 0-1 2-3
In this game, speed can kill.
Sequim’s Wolves needed just three hits — and a bunch of sharp pitching — to knock off the host Bremerton Knights on March 26.
Sequim (1-0 in league play, 4-1 overall) took advantage of Bremerton’s defense for 17 stolen bases over seven innings.
Sequim scored twice in the first inning, with Gavin Velarde stealing home for a run and Evan Hurn coming home on a passed ball. In the fifth inning, Ian Dennis stole two bases and scored on Daniel Harker’s sacrifice fly.
That was more than enough for Velarde and reliever Nigel Christian, who combined to hold the Knights to one run on four hits and three walks.
Bremerton threatened in the sixth after a Christian walk put runners on second and third, but the Sequim hurler got a pop out to end the threat.
Velarde and Austin Hilliard stole four bases apiece while Christian, Hurn, Ethan Richmond and James Thayer had two steals each.
Harker leads SHS to big victory
Have a day, Daniel Harker.
The senior pitcher/first baseman had three extra base hits and earned the win on the mound as Sequim batters knocked around Coupeville for nine hits in a 13-1, non-league win on March 22.
Harker rocked a three-run home run in SHS’s eight-run first inning, then added an RBI double in the fourth and a two-bagger in the fifth.
He also tossed three innings, giving up one run on three hits and striking out three Coupeville batters. Ian Miller and Gavin Velarde added scoreless innings in relief.
Velarde had a double among his three hits while Nigel Christian added a double and two RBIs. Sequim teammate Evan Hurn had an odd day at the plate, getting hit by a pitch twice and hitting a sacrifice fly; he wound up with an RBI and two runs scored without an official at-bat.
Aaron Trumbull had an RBI single off of Harker in the first inning for Coupeville’s lone run.
Wolves fall in extra innings
Sequim pitching held on into extra innings, but in the end Klahowya had enough to break a deadlock.
Klahowya catcher Jakob Whittig hit a bases-clearing double in the top of the 10th inning as visiting Klahowya beat Sequim 7-2 in a non-league affair on March 23.
The game originally was scheduled to be played at Klahowya (Silverdale), but was switched to Sequim with rain in the forecast.
Sequim held a 2-1 lead into the fifth inning before Klahowya tied it up with a run. Sequim’s James Thayer relieved James Grubb in the fifth and shut down the Eagles’ threat through the seventh. With Klahowya threatening, Austin Hilliard came on in relief and held Klahowya in check until the top of the 10th.
In that inning, with two outs and a runner on third base, an error put Klahowya ahead, opening up the floodgates. After a walk and hit batter, Whittig cleared the bases with a double to the wall.
Klahowya’s George Harris took over in the fourth inning and pitched six innings of shutout relief.
Looking ahead
Sequim was slated for a busy week, playing at Rochester on March 28 in a non-league game and hosting North Kitsap on March 29 — results of both games were not available at press time.
Sequim is at Olympic on March 31 and hosts Anacortes on April 2.
The Wolves host rival Port Angeles on April 4 and play at Kingston on April 5.
