BASEBALL: Port Angeles arms, bats overwhelm 3A Mount Tahoma

PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles pitcher Colton Romero, listed as a JV player, began his start Friday against Mount Tahoma by allowing a single to the Thunderbirds’ leadoff hitter.

Not the best start to a game, but what a finish.

That was the one and only hit Romero and two other Roughriders pitchers allowed against 3A Mount Tahoma as the Roughriders went on to win 10-0 in six innings.

After an 0-4 start to their season, the Riders have now won four straight.

This was hands down the team’s best pitching performance. Romero went three innings and struck out seven while allowing just the one single. He struck out the side in the third inning.

James Burkhardt pitched two innings — facing the minimum six batters while striking out two. Kaleb Mullen pitched the sixth inning, facing just three batters and striking out one.

“We threw a lot of strikes,” said coach Casey Dietz. He said that while Romero gave the team a great start, “Burkhardt was phenomenal and Kaleb really closed the door.”

What has changed for the Roughriders from their 0-4 start?

“We’re getting better every game. We’re just much more fundamentally sound,” Dietz said. “Offensively, we’re aggressive on the pitches we want to hit.”

At the plate, the Riders showed good patience, forcing the Thunderbirds to throw strikes and taking advantage of Mount Tahoma errors. When they needed it, the Riders got a couple of huge bombs from Beckett Jarnigan and Elijah Flodstrom.

Port Angeles scored two runs in the first inning without a hit. The Riders drew four walks, with Kole Acker driving in a run with a bases-loaded pass. Cole Johnson also scored a second run on a passed ball.

The Riders scored in the second inning with a Hunter Robinson leadoff single and a long RBI double to the fence by Jarnigan. They loaded the bases again when John Vaara got hit by a pitch and Johnson walked. Mullen hit a line drive to left field that was dropped for a two-run error to make it 5-0.

The Riders added three more runs in the fourth inning. Zane Glassock got on second on a two-base error, Flodstrom got a single when his grounder hit third base and bounced straight up. Another two-base error scored a run, then Mullen got an RBI on a groundout and Payton Cagey fought off a pitch for an RBI single into the shallow outfield to make it 8-0.

After a Glassock infield single in the fifth, Flodstrom drove in another run in the fifth with another long bomb to the fence that just missed being a home run, the Riders’ second-near home run of the game.

Port Angeles ended the game in the sixth when the Roughriders loaded the bases yet again on a Blake Merideth single, an error on a Josiah Gooding grounder and then a walk by Glassock. Flodstrom hit what would have been a two-run single, but the game ended with the mercy rule after the 10th run scored and Flodstrom got credit for one RBI.

Flodstrom finished the game 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.

Port Angeles, which evened its overall record to 4-4 overall with the victory, takes a week off, then returns to action at 4:15 p.m. Friday at Civic Field with a nonleague game against another 3A opponent, Peninsula. The Riders will then play another 3A team, Gig Harbor, April 9 in Gig Harbor.