PORT ANGELES — A two-out, bases-loaded plunking of Port Angeles’ Jacob Felton brought home the winning run and capped the Roughriders’ four-run rally in a 7-6 walk-off win over North Mason on Saturday at Civic Field.
Port Angeles trailed 6-3 heading to the final half inning and was down to its last two outs when Michael Soule roped a single into right field to get the rally started.
Dru Clark drew a walk and Wyatt Hall reached base on an infield single that drew an errant throw to first base, scoring Soule.
That chased Bulldogs starting pitcher Caden North, who had pitched effectively until that point.
Landon Seibel teed off on new pitcher Jake Matthews, pounding an RBI single down the third-base line to score Clark and advance Hall to third base.
An intentional walk to Adam Watkins re-loaded the bags, and after a wild pitch tied the game at 6-all, Kamron Meadows was intentionally walked to again load the bases and set up Felton’s walk-off hit-by-pitch RBI.
“They did a heck of a job there coming back. We didn’t give up and kept the pressure on them all the way to the end,” Port Angeles coach Casey Dietz said.
“Hats off to North Mason, they had a pitcher [North] that threw really well and went deep in the game and kept our bats relatively quiet. I go back to our guys, they continued to work and grind, and our guys are never out of it. The guys that we have, we have confidence in each one of them to come in and play well.”
The Riders took an early 3-0 lead after three innings, scoring two in the first on a pair of North Mason errors in the field. Seibel reached base on an error on a pop to second and scored when John Vaara’s blast to the wall in center field was dropped by a Bulldog outfielder. Vaara later came home to score on a wild pitch.
Elijah Flodstrom added an RBI single down the third-base line in the third to boost Port Angeles.
Port Angeles again went with a committee approach on the mound, receiving clean pitching performances by Seth Woods, Flodstrom, Dru Clark with help in the field by some nifty nabs by Hall at shortstop before Hall threw a clean fourth inning.
“Wyatt is very slick with the glove, an excellent defender with a very quick arm, and we have confidence in him to make plays all over the infield,” Dietz said. “He has versatility and will be pitching a lot for us as well.”
The Riders ran into some trouble in the fifth, allowing four North Mason runs on four hits and three errors.
The Bulldogs plated runs in the sixth and seventh frames to add to their lead, but Port Angeles was ready to rally.
“We missed a couple of signs, got a little bit nervous depending on the situation,” Dietz said. “It’s still early in the season, not a lot of at-bats, not a lot of innings in the field, so we are still working on building that confidence as a team, but we have the guys who can come out and pull through regardless of the situation.”
Port Angeles (2-0) hosts Bainbridge on Monday.
Port Angeles 7, North Mason 6
NM 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 — 6 11 4
PA 2 0 0 1 0 0 4 — 7 8 4
WP: Meadows LP: Matthews
Pitching
North Mason — North 6.1 IP, 6 R, 7 H, 7 K, 2 BB; Matthews 0.1 IP, R, H, 2 BB, HB, K.
Port Angeles — Woods IP, 0 R, H, K; Flodstrom IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 K; Clark IP, 0 R, 0H, BB; Hall IP, 0 R, H, BB, 2 K; Robinson IP, 4 R, 4 H, BB; Burkhardt IP, R, 3 H, BB; Meadows IP, R, H, 2 BB, K.
Hitting
North Mason — Smith 2-5, R; North 2-5, BB, 2 RBI; Shumaker 2-4, R, 2 RBI; Matthews 2-4; McCormick 1-3, BB, R, RBI.
Port Angeles — Seibel 2-3, 2 R, RBI; Hall 2-4, RBI; Flodstrom 1-2, RBI; Vaara 0-1, ROE, RBI; Soule 1-3, R; Bradow 1-2; Felton 0-2, HBP, RBI.
________
Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-406-0674 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
Port Angeles first baseman John Vaara holds his hands up after beating out North Mason batter Mason Schumaker in the first inning on Satiurday at Civic Field in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Port Angeles’ Wyatt Hall attempts to bunt in his opening at-bat against North Mason on Saturday at Civic Field in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
