Editor’s note: North Kitsap beat Port Angeles 5-2 in Tuesday’s tiebreaker for the Olympic League championship. Port Angeles will go to district playoffs as the No. 2 seed out of the Olympic League.
KINGSTON — The Port Angeles baseball team gets to play an extra game.
The Roughriders got a one-hitter from Kody Williams and Rylan Politika to beat Kingston 6-1 on Monday, forcing a tiebreaker with North Kitsap as both teams are on top of the Olympic League standings with identical 12-2 records. They also split two games earlier this year, so there is no tiebreaker there.
That game was played in Poulsbo on Tuesday afternoon, with the final result after press deadline. Look at www. peninsuladailynews.com for an update on that game. If the Riders win that game, they are the Olympic League champions. Lose and they are still the No. 2 seed out of the Olympic League heading into the Bidistrict tournament that begins May 7.
This is not the first time Port Angeles and North Kitsap have had to play an extra game. The Riders and Vikings have done this in basketball in recent years.
The Riders and Bucs were locked in a 1-1 tie until the sixth inning when Port Angeles blew the game open with four runs. Politika had a two-run single in the inning and Luke Flodstrom an RBI single.
Flodstrom went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Colton Romero had a hit, a sac fly, an RBI and a run scored. Josiah Gooding was 1-for-1 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk. Jordan Shumway was 0-for-1 with two runs scored after twice getting hit by pitches.
Williams went four innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. Politika pitched three innings, allowing an earned run and striking out three.
Port Angeles 6, Kingston 1
PA 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 — 6 9 0
K’ston 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 — 1 1 1
Pitching
Port Angeles — Williams 4 IP, H, K; Politika 3 IP, ER, 3 R.
Hitting
Port Angeles — Flodstrom 2-3, 2 RBI; Romero 1-3, R, RBI, SF; Gooding 1-1, 2 R, RBI, BB, HBP; Politika 1-3, 2 RBI; Shumway 0-1, 2 R, 2 HBP.
Cheney Stadium game
Tonight, the Riders will also play a unique nonleague game at the home of the Tacoma Rainiers, Cheney Stadium. Port Angeles will play King’s, a private Christian school out of Shoreline, with the first pitch at 6 p.m.
Coach Zac Moore said he had heard through the baseball grapevine of high school games being hosted at Cheney Stadium, which holds 6,500 spectators.
“They offer it to all high schools. I started seeing games being played there last year,” Moore said. So, he looked into it about scheduled a Roughriders game in the jewel of a stadium. One of the criteria is that the team had to hold a fundraiser to help pay for it, which the Riders did.
“It’s a really nice way to end the regular season,” Moore said. “It’s going to be fun.”
The game can be viewed on the phone app Gamechanger.
Huge PA softball game
You can genuinely say this one is for all the marbles.
The Port Angeles softball team will arguably have its biggest home game in years Thursday, facing North Kitsap in a rematch with the Olympic League title pretty much on the line. First pitch is at 4:15 p.m. with the game likely at Dry Creek Elementary School with sunny weather forecast.
Port Angeles goes into the game 9-0 in league while North Kitsap is 8-1.
North Kitsap went 25-0 last year and won the state 2A championship. The Riders snapped the Vikings’ 29-game winning streak with a 7-4 win on April 9.
That win vaulted the Riders into the No. 1 spot statewide in ratings percentage index. Even though Port Angeles (13-1 overall) has won four straight since that game, the Riders have been passed in RPI by Sedro-Woolley. Sedro-Woolley has an RPI of .6791, while Port Angeles’ is .6748. North Kitsap, 10-4 overall, is ranked No. 4 in the state, so it’s No. 2 vs. No. 4 and the way the RPI formula works, the Riders would likely jump ahead of Sedro-Woolley again if they win.
The Riders still have three more Olympic League games after Thursday’s battle with North Kitsap, but if Port Angeles wins, they would have in effect a three-game lead on the Vikings and will be in excellent shape for a league championship.
