A fourth seed? They’re not playing like it.
Behind some gutsy pitching, solid defense and timely hitting, Sequim’s Wolves knocked off White River and Sammamish in succession to earn a spot in the West Central District tournament Saturday in Kent.
In the process, Sequim (12-8) has locked down a berth in regionals.
On May 16 in Silverdale, the Wolves take on a familiar foe — Olympic League champ North Kitsap (17-3) — for a chance to move on to the district title game later that day against the winner of the other semifinal pitting Liberty against Fife. The losing squads play each other for the No. 3 and 4 seeds to regionals.
In the district tourney opener, Sequim’s Tanner Rhodefer showed why he’s the staff ace, striking out 12 Hornets and giving up just two hits en route to a 3-1 win against White River.
Sequim opened the scoring in the first inning when Evan Hurn hit a two-out triple and James Grubb followed with an RBI single to center.
Sequim made it 2-0 in the sixth inning, with Daniel Harker scoring following a White River error.
The Hornets halved the lead in the bottom of the sixth, but Sequim got an insurance run when, with two outs, Dusty Bates singled, advanced on a passed ball and scored on Rhodefer’s RBI single.
Meanwhile, Rhodefer was strong throughout. He gave up a hit and walk in the first and proceeded to retire nine in a row. Four times he struck out two White River batters before the seventh, when he struck out the side.
In game two, Sequim battered Sammamish pitchers for seven runs in the first two innings, and SHS starter Nigel Christian spread out eight hits and five walks over his six innings for a 9-2 victory to clinch the quarterfinal win.
Austin Hilliard had three hits and three RBIs while Harker, Hurn and Grubb had two hits each and Christian knocked in two.
In the two games, Sequim played error-free baseball.
The Wolves now take on North Kitsap, who topped Sequim 11-1 in Sequim on April 20 and 10-4 in Poulsbo on Aril 23.
Wolves fall in regular season finale
Sequim was on a winning streak at the end of the regular season, but North Mason was even hotter.
The visiting Bulldogs scored one run in each of the last four innings for a come-from-behind, 7-5 win in Sequim on May 5 to earn a three-way tie in the league standings with the Wolves and Port Angeles.
North Mason won its fourth in a row behind timely hitting and a complete game, nine-strikeout performance from Hunter Hohmann.
Sequim’s Hilliard drove in a run with a single in a two-run fourth as the Wolves held a 5-4 lead, but North Mason tallied a run in the sixth and another in the seventh off of Grubb, SHS’s reliever, and the Wolves couldn’t manage a rally.
Christian got the start for Sequim giving up seven hits and five earned runs and striking out four. Grubb struck out two and walked two.
Seven Wolves had base hits and Hilliard had two of Sequim’s four steals.
The Olympic Trojans lost to the Port Angeles Roughriders 11-1 on May 6, giving the North Kitsap Vikings the league title, with Olympic taking second. Port Angeles won the three-way tiebreaker for the third seed to districts.
Wolves topple Trojans
Bates had three hits, Christian and Gavin Velarde tripled while Christian, Grubb and Hurn each drove in two runs as Sequim beat Olympic 9-2 win in Sequim May 4.
The victory clinched a postseason berth for the Wolves.
Rhodefer went six strong innings, working around Olympic’s eight hits and two walks with the aid of six strikeouts, and Hilliard worked a scoreless seventh in the victory.
Olympic starter Ethan Goldizen lasted just one inning, giving up four runs.
