BASEBALL: Wilder Sr. bats lacking pop in Firecracker loss

PORT ANGELES — After a rough first inning, the Wilder Senior Baseball Club duo of Rylan Politika and Blake Merideth bore down, keeping a elite baseball Shoreline Royals team in check the rest of the Dick Brown Firecracker Classic opener at Civic Field.

Wilder lost 5-0 Thursday night, but it almost felt like a victory as Shoreline got off to a 4-0 start in the first inning. the two teams played pretty much dead even after that point with Politika and Merideth dueling with the Royals’ Blake Gettmann.

Politika, moved up to AAA from the Wilder Jr. team last week because he was tearing the cover off the ball at the AA level, started. He gave up a two-run double and an RBI single in the first inning, then the rest of the way he allowed just two hits and no runs. He ended going 3⅔ innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs while striking out three.

“That was two really good outings in a row for Blake,” said coach Zak Moore.

When asked what changed from the first inning, Politika said, “Just focus.”

Merideth came in and pitched the final 3⅓, likewise keeping Shoreline bats quiet. He allowed zero hits with three strikeouts. Shoreline managed to get a run without the benefit of a hit in the sixth inning.

“Rylan and Blake pitched a hell of a baseball game,” Moore said. “[Shoreline] was a really good team. They did everything they could to keep us in the game.”

“We just have to be competitive all the time,” Merideth said of the lesson Wilder can take from the game.

The game also featured a good play from shortstop Alex Angevine and catch Kaleb Mullen on an attempted double steal in the fourth inning. Rather than get into a rundown with a runner trying to steal second with a baserunner at third breaking for home — which likely would have allowed a run to score — Angevine fired the ball to Mullen, who got the tag down to end the inning.

At the plate, Moore said Colton Romero and Ezra Townsend had good games.

Romero had a solid single and Townsend had a single and a walk. Townsend also had a couple of hard hit balls that went for outs.

Other than those two hits, Gettmann, a pitcher for 3A Shorewood High School, was pretty tough, keeping the Wilder Sr. hitters off-balance by mixing hard fastballs with some wicked breaking balls for 10 strikeouts. Gettmann also had the two-run double in the first inning.

Wilder Senior (8-11) played their second game of the Dick Brown tournament Friday night against Excelsior Post 2. They play the WBS Colts Red 18U team at 7 p.m. today, then play games Sunday for tournament placement, all at Civic Field. The time of that Sunday game is yet to be determined, check www.peninsuladailynews.com Sunday morning.

Today’s schedule of games:

10 a.m. — Excelsior 19U vs. Kitsap Osprey

1 p.m. — Shoreline Royals vs. Excelsior 17U

4 p.m. — Lakeside BR vs. WBC Colts Black

7 p.m. — Wilder Senior vs. WBC Colts Red.

Sunday games

9 a.m. — Red Division No. 4 vs. Blue Division No. 4 (consolation)

11:30 a.m. — Blue Division No. 3 vs. Red Division No. 3 (consolation)

2 p.m. — Blue Division No. 1 vs. Red Division No. 2 (winner to championship)

4:30 p.m. — Red Division No. 1 vs. Blue Division No. 2 (winner to championship)

7 p.m. — Championship game

Shoreline 5, Wilder Sr. 0

Shoreline 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 5 4 0

Wilder Sr. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 2 2

WP: LP:

Pitching

Shoreline — Gettmann 7 IP, 2 H, 10 K.

Wilder Sr. — Politika 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 K; Merideth 3.1 IP, 3 K.

Hitting

Shoreline — Gettmann 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Brunni 1-2, RBI, BB; Hjort 1-2, 2B, R.

Wilder Sr. — Romero 1-3, Townsend 1-2, BB.

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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.