PORT ANGELES — Wilder Senior’s Kody Williams took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and Ezra Townsend, Braydan White and Lincoln Bear muscled up with huge home run bombs to give the seniors all the offense they needed in a 4-2 win over the WBS Colts Red in the opening game of the Dick Brown Memorial Firecracker tournament.
Williams ended up with a complete-game victory, allowing four hits while striking out seven.
The Colts had plenty of runners on base in the sixth and seventh innings, but Williams got two of his strikeouts at the most critical times, ending both innings with Ks.
Williams said he wasn’t really nervous those last two innings.
“My strikeouts were up today. I was making the pitches I had to make,” he said.
Before the game, there was a tribute to former coach and Wilder and Roughriders player Nick Borchers, who died in March at the age of 40. Townsend said at the tribute “let’s get this one for Borch.”
Townsend got Wilder on the board early in the second inning with an absolute blast over the right-field fence at Volunteer Field.
“That felt good, especially on the day of Borch’s memorial,” Townsend said.
“It wasn’t our best game, but we played well enough to win,” said coach Zac Moore. “Kody was a dog today. He didn’t give up his first hit until the sixth inning. Our defense was OK, our offense was good.”
Williams mowed down the Colts Red most of the game, but the WBS team got a run in the sixth on a sac fly. With runners at second and third, Williams got a strikeout to end the threat.
Rylan Politika pinch-hit in the bottom of the seventh and got a crucial single to start a big rally.
“That hit was big,” said Moore.
Bryant Laboy went in to pinch run, and his speed was needed as White then belted a deep ball to dead center, perhaps farther than Townsend’s home run. It went off the fence for a triple as Laboy came all the way home to score to make it 2-1. White later came in to score on a fielder’s choice.
Bear then belted a double to tack on another insurance run, making it 4-1.
The Colts threatened to rally again in the seventh when an error and a double put runners at second and third with just one out. White, playing right field, made a great running catch on a deep foul ball to get the second out of the inning. The runner came in to score from third, but the Colts were down to their final out. Williams ended the game with a strikeout.
Wilder Senior (11-4) played the CBC Orange on Thursday with the result after press deadline. The seniors will play Lakeside Recovery at 4 p.m. today at Volunteer Field and then games will continue Saturday and Sunday at Civic Field and Volunteer Field.
Wilder Senior 4, WBS Colts Red 2
WBS-C 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 — 2 3 1
WSR 0 1 0 0 0 3 X— 4 8 2
WP: LP:
Pitching
Wilder Sr. — Williams 7 IP, 3 H, ER, 7 K.
Hitting
Wilder Sr. — Bear 2-3, 2B, RBI; Townsend 1-3, HR, R, RBI; White 1-2, EB, R, RBI; Politika 1-1.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
