OLYMPIA — The Olympic 14U baseball team recently wrapped a 3-1 weekend at the Battle of the Bats Tournament.
Olympic notched wins over teams from Federal Way, Olympia’s Sandberg Baseball and Woodinville before falling 4-2 in the semifinals to eventual tournament champion Legends Elite of Lewiston, Idaho.
“I thought we made huge strides this weekend and we played better as a team,” manager Rob Merritt said.
“Our goal is to get better every game and I think we are getting there as we prepare to host the Junior Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament.”
That event will be held in Port Angeles Tuesday through Sunday, July 26-31.
Olympic opened the Battle of the Bats by battering the Federal Way Fire 16-4 in a five-inning game.
Derek Bowechop went 2 for 3 with three runs and three RBIs to lead Olympic at the plate.
Brody Merritt added two hits, two runs and two RBIs and Milo Whitman had two hits, drove in two runs and scored another.
Olympic kept the offensive attack going in a 10-4 win over Sandberg Baseball in game two.
Isaiah Getchell went 2 for 2, scoring twice and driving in a pair of runs to lead the hitters.
Ethan Flodstrom also had two hits and scored two runs.
David Powers pitched well in relief of starter Slater Bradley, giving up zero runs on two hits in, with one strikeout in two innings to close out the game.
Olympic edged Rijo Athletics of Woodinville 8-7 in their third game.
“We played some small ball and it really worked to our advantage,” Merritt said.
“Our No. 3 hitter Milo Whitman really did a great job as he had three RBIs on two safety squeeze bunts and a double.”
Bowechop also produced at the plate, going 4 for 4 with a double and scoring two runs.
Tyler Bowen had two hits, scored a pair of runs and drove in an RBI.
Flodstrom pitched two scoreless innings to get the win.
“He came in and shut the door on a really good hitting team,” Merritt said.
In the semifinal loss, Olympic held a 2-0 lead with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but couldn’t hang on.
“Flodstrom pitched his tail off but was one pitch short of getting out of a bases-loaded jam,”
Merritt said.
Flodstrom threw 4 2/3 innings, giving up four runs, four hits, four walks and striking out four.
Powers threw the final 1 1/3 innings, giving up no runs on a hit and striking out one.
“We pitched it well and played good defense as we turned three double plays, but we had a couple of base running mistakes that cost us,” Merritt said.
“I will take responsibility for that as we have not had a chance to go over some scenarios on the practice field yet, which is my fault.”
Whitman was 2 for 3 with an RBI, and Bowechop, Tanner Lunt and Timmy Adams all collected hits.
Olympic played up an age level at a wood-bat tournament over the weekend in Olympia.
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Compiled using team reports.
