PORT ANGELES LEFTIES: Lefties fall in 10 innings in last game of year

PORT ANGELES — For not the first time in their brief history, the Port Angeles Lefties went to extra innings in their final game of the season.

The Lefties famously won their last home game in extra innings in their inaugural season in 2017 with a wild comeback win. On Sunday, the Lefties got both the tying and the winning runs on base in the bottom of the 10th, but couldn’t bring them home, falling 4-3.

It was overall an upbeat weekend for the Lefties, who won Saturday 8-4 to snap a 13-game losing streak, then gave the playoff-bound Bells all they could handle Sunday.

The Lefties took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning, giving a big final homestand crowd a lot to cheer about, when Julio Vasquez and Brock Mayer hit back-to-back home runs. Port Angeles tacked on another run in the seventh when Vasquez hit a double, scoring Mayer, who had walked.

Meanwhile, starter Colby Scheuber (Grays Harbor College), who came into the game with one of the best ERAs in the West Coast League at 2.53, pitched a gem, going 7⅓ innings and allowing no earned runs. He walked two and struck out three. Bellingham was able to score two runs in the ninth to tie the game, however, and the Bells added a run in the top of the 10th to take a 4-3 lead.

In the bottom of the 10th, Corey Jarrell (Vanguard) and Trent Jackson (Hawaii, Hilo) both walked, but with two outs Isiah Walz (Concordia College) struck out to end the game.

The Lefties finished the season 13-41.

Saturday’s game

Port Angeles snapped its 13-game losing streak, getting a clutch hit in the third inning from Roberto Nunez (Embry-Riddle) and solid pitching down the stretch to hold off the Bells 8-4.

The Lefties only had five hits in the game, but took advantage of wildness from the Bellingham pitchers. In the third inning, the bases were loaded thanks to a single by Travis Helm (Central Washington) and a pair of walks. Nunez then came up with a bases-clearing double to give the Lefties a 3-0 lead.

In the sixth inning, the Lefties amazingly scored four runs without the benefit of a hit. The Lefties got their runs on five walks, two hit batsmen and a fielder’s choice RBI by Helm. Nunez had a bases-loaded walk for his fourth RBI of the game, giving him 31 for the season.

Helm added another RBI on a sacrifice fly to score Mauricio Guardado (Los Angeles Mission College), who had a single, moved to second on a single by Brock Mayer (Chaffey College) and stole third base. Guardado also had a double.

Meanwhile, on the mound, Reid Rasmussen (Central Washington) went five innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs. He walked four and struck out three. Garrett Holpuch (Centralia College) picked up the victory, going the final four innings, and allowing three hits and one earned run. He walked two and struck out three.

The Lefties had solid crowds of over 1,000 people at their final two games of the season.

Notes

Port Angeles High School graduate Wyatt Hall didn’t appear in the series as his tenure with the Bells ended in June. Hall, who will play for Cal State San Bernardino next spring, hit .350 (7-for-20) for the Bells this season.

Riley Parker (Cal State San Bernardino), who had an outstanding season for the Lefties in 2022, hitting .318 and leading the team in RBIs, is now with the Bells. He had a two-run double in Saturday’s game.

Port Angeles 8, Bellingham 4

Bell. 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 — 4 7 0

PA 0 0 3 0 0 4 1 0 x — 8 5 1

WP: Holpuch LP: Molina.

Pitching

Bell. — Swaim IP, K; Saunders 3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K; Wendler IP, K; Molina 0.2 IP, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 WP; Van Beek 1.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB; Brown IP, BB, K.

PA — Rasmussen 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K; Holpuch 4 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 3 K.

Hitting

Bell. — West 3-5, R, RBI; Parker 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB; Schmidt 1-5, 3B, R, 3 SB.

PA — Guardado 2-3, 2B, 2 R, SB, HBP; Nunez 1-4, 2B, 4 RBI, BB; Helm 1-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB.