PORT ANGELES — Having lost four pitchers to graduation, three of whom are now playing at the collegiate level, its fair to say the Port Angeles baseball team had a few question marks heading into the season.
Last season’s pitching staff, headlined by Travis Paynter, Curran Bradley and Janson Pederson, guided the Roughriders to their first state tournament trip since 2011.
With little varsity pitching experience returning, preseason expectations were a tad lower entering 2017.
“I didn’t really know, I had no idea what would happen this year,” senior Dane Bradow said.
But thanks to the growth of some hard-working upperclassmen and the emergence of a pair of phenomenal freshman hurlers, Port Angeles (11-6) finished second in the Olympic League 2A Division for the second straight season and heads to Saturday’s district playoff opener with a stable of fresh, productive arms that command the zone, throw strikes and limit walks.
The Riders’ core staff boasts earned run averages the Seattle Mariners would salivate over:
Bradow leads the way with a paltry 1.93 ERA in 29 innings pitched; junior Colton McGuffey (2.48 in 25.1); freshman Brody Merritt (2.74 in 15.1), freshman Ethan Flodstrom (3.27 in 15); junior Brady Shimko (1.54 in 13.2); sophomore Andrew Pena (2.86 in 7.1) and senior Kyle Blankenship (2.63 in 5.1).
Stingy, filthy, nasty stuff. And Port Angeles will need it when they face Steilacoom, the South Puget Sound League’s eighth seed to districts, at Kitsap County Fairgrounds at 4 p.m. Saturday.
“I was really confident in the talent of our guys heading into the season,” Port Angeles head coach Karl Myers said.
“The question was could they get it done day in and day out? Because only a confident pitcher can find sustained success.”
Myers, a former Division I pitcher at Gonzaga, was in charge of the pitchers and the Riders JV last season as an assistant.
He was comfortable handing the ball to now-senior Dane Bradow and letting him go to work.
“Dane is a big, strong kid and was our ace on the JV last season,” Myers said. “He was basically untouched and his velocity has improved and he throws a good breaking ball for strikes.”
He’s pitched in eight games, starting four, with a hard-luck 0-2 record, including a tough 3-2 loss to North Kitsap last week.
Bradow took the offseason seriously, rehabbing from a sore shoulder suffered during summer league play and working out at 360 Sports Performance Training in Carlsborg.
Previously, he hadn’t given much thought to trying to extend his baseball career after high school but he said he’s interested in pursuing the game collegiately.
“He’s really devleoped into our ace,” Myers said. “It doesn’t matter who we are playing, Dane gives us a shot to beat just about everybody. He’s worked his butt off to get ready for this, he’s earned it, and it shows. He really gets in on the hitters and they have a tough time timing-wise.”
McGuffey, played catcher for much of last season, but also saw a few innings on the hill.
Myers calls him a “complete pitcher.”
“He fields his position, holds runners really well and has the capability to throw it by guys,” he said.
“When he is out there on the mound he’s taking care of the little things.”
Bradow, Merritt and Flodstrom all pointed to McGuffey’s command and control of all of his pitches as his biggest strength.
Flodstrom saw a good amount of time on the mound earlier in the season, and his bat (.325 batting average, tied for team-lead in RBIs, third on team in doubles) has made him a mainstay in the Riders’ batting order.
“Ethan’s got a great breaking ball and changeup, another complete pitcher,” Myers said. And he can certainly swing it. He started slow, but he’s come on strong, he’s a pure hitter.”
Flodstrom and Merritt have plenty of big-game experience having played on the 12U team that made it to the Cal Ripken World Series in Florida, plus plenty of Olympic Junior Babe Ruth state tournament action.
But Flodstrom does admit he’s “a little bit surprised” to have so much success at the varsity level so soon.
“Before the year started I was just expecting to try to make JV, start on JV, so having success on varsity, playing with the older guys has been fun,” Flodstrom said. “It’s exceeded my expectations, for sure.
“We’ve got guys like Dane and Colton that can start and go pretty deep, and then we have so much depth we have those guys that pitch one, two, three innings, give their best and help us out.”
Flodstrom agreed that with the implementation of pitch count limits, high school pitching now resembles his Cal Ripken days, when pitchers would give their all for two or three innings before giving way to a reliever offering up his best stuff.
“You have to be strategic and look at the count and see when you should call somebody else in,” Flodstrom said.
Merritt has started a couple of games but is making his presence felt as a late-innings reliever. He closed out Port Angeles’ 4-2 win over Sequim by striking out all five batters he faced.
“Starter, closer, whatever,” Myers said.
“He’s done such a great job, throws such a great fastball and his delivery is decieving with his arm slot.
“He doesn’t let any situation get to him, its the same Brody every time out. He has a real closer mentality and has really enjoyed that role and it’s great to see a freshman come in and throw with such confidence.”
Bradow said Merritt’s velocity is something to watch as it should only improve as he gets older.
“I can’t wait to see him when he’s a senior,” Bradow said. “See how much faster he’ll throw and what other pitches he develops.”
Shimko, Pena and Blankenship have all done their part for Port Angeles.
“When their number have been called they’ve been ready to go,” Myers said.
“It’s a testament to their work ethic. It’s hard to be a reliever at any level, you never know how you’ll be used or if you’ll get into a game. But they’ve been ready and have performed for us.”
Myers said it’s been fun having the ability to choose from a full bullpen all season long.
“It’s not something that you can ususally do in high school,” he said. “It’s fun to be able to look at a game and look at the weapons we have and know that kids don’t have to go the full seven innings. We can celebrate each other’s successes really a unit as opposed to a individuals and more kids get to play and we have become a tighter group.
“It will be fun to see with the amount of guys we have how we can play matchups and put the puzzle together here in the postseaso,” Myers said. As a coach it will be a fun thing to figure out.”
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Port Angeles’ Ethan Flodstrom pitches in a game against North Mason on March 31 at Volunteer Field. Strong pitching performances, many from underclassmen like Flodstrom, have the Roughriders focused on a repeat trip to state.
