PORT ANGELES — A four-strikeout inning wasn’t even the most interesting part of Port Angeles’ 2-1 victory over rival Sequim under the lights at Civic Field.
The Roughriders clinched a postseason berth and ensured that they will finish no worse than fourth in Olympic League 2A by beating the Wolves in the baseball version of the Rainshadow Rumble rivalry.
“We just found a way to win,” Port Angeles coach Vic
Reykdal said.
“And it was good for us. This is like a playoff-caliber game, and that’s what we need, because they’re coming. They’re right around the corner.”
Noah McGoff broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning by scoring from second base on an infield fly on what was Wednesday’s most interesting play.
Here’s how it happened:
McGoff was on second base and Janson Pederson was at first when Colton McGuffey came to the plate with one out.
McGuffey hit a high pop fly that Sequim first baseman Daniel Harker lost in the lights.
The ball dropped, but McGuffey was called out via the infield fly rule.
Pederson executed the situation properly, keeping his feet near the first base bag the entire time.
McGoff, though, took off for third. Harker tried to throw him out, but the ball bounced past third base, which allowed McGoff to dash home for the go-ahead run.
“I saw the ball drop and then I didn’t know if I was supposed to go or not, so I just went — all on adrenalin — and luckily I ended up being safe,” McGoff said.
“And then I popped up and saw the ball rolling to the outfield, and then I ran home.”
For Sequim, the play was even more confusing than the typical and already complex infield fly rule.
Coach Dave Ditlefsen said the Wolves didn’t hear the umpire’s call, so players in the dugout shouted for their teammates to get the force out at second base.
“They think, ‘Hey, we can still force this kid,’” Ditlefsen said. “He throws to a base where nobody’s at, throws it away and they score the winning run.
“We didn’t respond to a situation properly. We should know better. It’s something we actually practice. We’ve prepared for that.
“I just wonder how much the fact that our kids did not hear ‘infield fly’ affected where they thought that ball should go.”
Reykdal also couldn’t hear the umpire’s call from where he was standing, the third-base coaches box. And McGoff didn’t hear Reykdal.
“It was loud, though. It was loud. It really was,” Reykdal said.
“Because I was yelling, ‘Stay! Stay! Stay!’ and he took off.”
The run helped ease the sting of a close call earlier in the inning that didn’t go Port Angeles’ way.
McGoff reached base when he tried to bunt Eathen Boyer to third after Boyer led off the sixth with a single and then stole second base.
Sequim rejected McGoff’s sacrifice and instead threw to third base.
The ball beat Boyer. The tag, though, was close.
Boyer was called out, and Reykdal passionately expressed his disagreement with the umpire.
“I thought the guy was safe at third, honestly, on the sac bunt,” Reykdal said.
“I think sometimes it kind of works itself out. So I’ll take it.
“The baseball gods have a way of evening things out, and I think we deserved that play.”
If McGoff hadn’t scored on that play, the lights at Civic Field might have shined deep into the night because runs were hard to come by Wednesday night.
The game’s three pitchers, James Grubb of Sequim and Curan Bradley and Travis Paynter of Port Angeles, were at times erratic but overall difficult to hit.
Bradley started for the Riders and stuck out 10 batters in four innings. That includes four in the second inning.
First, Harker went down on strikes. Grubb did likewise, but he reached base safely when his third strike got past McGuffey, Port Angeles’ catcher. Bradley, though, sent down the next two batters.
Bradley also struck out the side in the fourth, but in between the second and third outs, he walked the bases loaded, throwing only two strikes in 14 pitches.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Riders scored the game’s first run when McGoff came in from third base on McGuffey’s sacrifice fly to deep center field.
Paytner relieved Bradley at the start of the fifth and gave up hits to the first two batters he faced and then the Wolves only run.
Austin Hilliard singled and moved to second on a passed ball, third on Gavin Velarde’s bunt single, and home on another passed ball, tying the score 1-1.
Paynter took advantage of a few close calls to get a rhythm going in the sixth inning.
Paynter started the frame by falling behind in the count three balls, one strike to Harker. After the fifth pitch, Harker started heading to first base, but it was called a strike. He did the same thing following the next pitch, but it also was called a strike.
Paynter then struck out Grubb and Thayer on three pitches apiece.
After the Riders took the lead in the bottom of the sixth, Paynter again struck out the side in the top of the seventh to end the game.
Paynter struck out seven, so he and Bradley combined to mow down 17 batters.
“We just threw strikes,” Bradley said.
The Wolves’ fourth through eighth batters in the lineup were unable to even put the ball in play.
“I’m disappointed with how we hit,” Ditlefsen said.
“Obviously, you have to tip your cap to their pitchers. Curan and Paynter are very good pitchers, and we know they’re good pitchers.
“But I expect us to put the ball in play more than we did. We struck out way too much today.
“And you can certainly credit those guys for throwing very well, but our kids, if we’re going to win any games in the playoffs, we’re going to have to put the ball in play against good pitchers.”
Grubb went the distance for Sequim, striking out five, walking five and allowing four hits and two runs in six innings.
“He threw one of his better games of the year,” Ditlefsen said.
“He threw fantastic. He threw well enough to win a game, but we didn’t put the runs on the board for him.”
Sequim (4-6, 9-8) can lock down a postseason berth with a win over Kingston (2-7, 3-9) on the road today.
Port Angeles (7-2, 13-3) can help the fifth-place Wolves’ quest to improve their seed by beating fourth-place Bremerton (4-4, 7-7) today.
The Riders are in second place, a game back of North Kitsap (8-1, 11-3) and a game ahead of Olympic (6-3, 10-4). Port Angeles plays the Vikings and the Trojans next week.
Port Angeles 2, Sequim 1
Sequim 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 1 3 3
Port Angeles 0 0 0 1 0 1 x — 2 4 0
WP- Paynter; LP- Grubb
Pitching Statistics
Sequim: Grubb 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, ER, 5 BB, 5 K.
Port Angeles: Bradley 4 IP, H, 0 R, 4 BB, 10 K; Paynter 3 IP, 2 H, R, 7 K.
Hitting Statistics
Sequim: Velarde 2-3; Hilliard 1-3, R.
Port Angeles: Hendry 1-3; Boyer 1-3; McGoff 1-2, BB, 2 R; Basden 1-3; McGuffey 0-2, RBI.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
