By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — The clouds parted, the afternoon sun warmed up the crowd at Civic Field and Port Angeles capped off a perfect afternoon, getting off to a rousing start in it’s season, giving up just five hits in a 14-1 nonleague baseball trouncing of Aberdeen on Saturday.
The Roughriders showed good patience at the plate as Bobcats’ pitchers struggled to find the strike zone.
Port Angeles clogged the basepaths with 10 hits, four walks and six hit batsmen for a total of 20 baserunners in just four innings.
A number of wild pitches and passed balls also caused problems for Aberdeen.
Brody Merritt had a two-run single and three RBIs, Gavin Guerrero had two hits and two RBIs, Colton McGuffey had two hits and an RBI.
And Joel Wood had three RBIs with a two-run double and a bases-loaded walk.
Port Angeles managed to do all that damage offensively with their monster hitter from last year, sophomore Ethan Flodstrom, walking twice and only getting one official at-bat (an RBI groundout).
McGuffey started the game on the mound, pitching two scoreless innings with strikeouts for the win. To cap off his all-around solid day, he also had an unassisted double play while playing first base to end the fourth inning.
Coach Karl Myers was pleased with how his team played in its opener.
“Guys have been working hard all year, I like where we’re at,” Myers said.
Myers said the Riders showed good timing, being patient and waiting for good pitches to swing at without going after bad pitches.
“It’s about having a plan, it all goes back to timing — hitting the pitches they wanted and letting the other ones go by,” Myers said.
Myers was also excited by the Riders’ pitching. McGuffey, Merritt and Flodstrom combined to throw shutout ball through the first four innings with five strikeouts, two hits and a walk. Brody Shimko gave up just one run in the fifth, striking out two.
“The pitchers pounded the zone, the defense was really solid. I’m excited for this team. It’s going to be a fun season,” said Myers.
Port Angeles (1-0) dives straight into league play with its next game, hosting Kingston in the Riders’ Olympic League opener at Civic Field at 4:15 p.m. Thursday.
Port Angeles 14, Aberdeen 1
Aberdeen 0 0 0 0 1 — 1 5 0
PA 3 5 6 0 x — 14 10 0
WP: McGuffey LP: Trader
Pitching
Aberdeen — Trader 1IP, 7R; Larson 1.1IP, 4R; Williamson 0.2IP, 3R; Touch 1IP.
Port Angeles — McGuffey 2IP, H, 3Ks, 0R; Merritt, 1IP, K, H, 0R; Flodstrom IP, K, BB, 0R; Shimko, IP, 3H, R, 2Ks.
Hitting
Aberdeen — Pisani 1-2, RBI; Touch 2-2.
Port Angeles — Wood 1-1, 2B, BB, HBP, 3RBI; McGuffey 2-2, BB, RBI; Guerrero 2-2, 2RBI; Whitman 2-2, HBP, ; Flodstrom 0-1, 2BB, RBI; Jackson 1-1, RBI; Merritt 1-2, 3RBI; Woods, BB, HBP.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
