SEQUIM — Too many errors, too many mental mistakes and too much Nick Torento.
Add it all up, and it was enough to spoil the Sequim baseball team’s bid for the top spot in the Olympic League against the Kingston Buccaneers on Wednesday afternoon.
The Wolves (10-4 in league, 13-5 overall) saw five errors lead to four unearned runs as they fell to the first-place Buccaneers 8-4 on a damp and unseasonably chilly day in Dungeness Valley.
Torento went the distance on the mound for the second straight start, overcoming four hit batters, three walks, seven hits and four earned runs for his third win over Sequim in the last two years.
Mistakes will be made
“There’s going to be mistakes in weather like this,” Sequim coach Dave Ditlefsen said. “It’s a high school baseball game, there’s going to be mistakes.
“I think the story of the day is we still have yet to figure out that pitcher on the hill. He’s always tough against us and we never seem to get great offense going against him.”
With a few glaring exceptions, the senior right-hander worked the strike zone much of the game.
Outside of the first and seventh innings, when the Wolves scored three of their four runs, Torento kept the Wolves off balance with a hard fastball and sharp-breaking curve.
That was especially true against the bottom four hitters in Sequim’s lineup, which went a collective 0-for-11 with two walks and three strikeouts.
“Nick has really been on,” Kingston coach Scott McKay said. “When he’s on and he’s in control of himself, he’s been tough this year.”
It wasn’t until his team was up 8-2 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning that Torento’s control got away from him.
After giving up a triple to Drew Rickerson on a misplayed fly ball to right field, Torento hit three of the next four batters and gave up an RBI single to Isaac Yamamoto to put the game at 8-4 with the bases loaded.
Then, with the potential game-tying run at the plate, Torento got Karsten Wake on a ground out on a 1-0 pitch to end the game.
“This was huge to get these guys because they were right on our heels,” McKay said.
“They’ve been tough all year. To come here and score some runs and [have Torento] do his thing on the mound, it was a really good win.”
Torento also got into trouble in the sixth inning after Sequim got its first two hitters on base with a single and a walk.
But a ground ball from the next batter hit Sequim runner Ryan Hueter as he ran to third base for the first out.
Then the Buccaneers turned a 4-6-3 double play on the next at bat to end the threat.
“This is actually the most runs we’ve put up against him,” Ditlefsen said of Torento, who also limited Port Angeles to two runs in a complete game 8-2 win last Friday.
“He’s just got our number.”
Of course, Torento also benefited from the Wolves’ five errors Wednesday, including two during a four-run second inning that put the Buccaneers ahead comfortably early on.
Losing pitcher Tyler Campbell gave up five runs in his 3 1/3 innings of work, three of which were earned.
He was chased in the fourth following an RBI double from Torento, who also finished 2-for-4 at the plate, and his third walk of the game.
Knuckleballer Jake Hudson kept the Buccaneers bats at bay for most of the next 2 2/3 innings.
His only run allowed was unearned, coming off an overthrow to third base that wasn’t properly backed up, putting the score at 6-2.
Another Sequim error in the seventh helped spark a two-run frame in the seventh inning as well.
“Obviously, I wish we could have played better defensively,” Ditlefsen said.
“The ball was just slick. They had to play on that too, and they made their plays and we didn’t.
“There’s certainly things that happened today that we need to learn from.”
Yamamoto finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored to lead Sequim.
Rickerson and Campbell each had two hits for the Wolves as well, but that was all they would manage against Torento.
“We didn’t get much consistency through the lineup and that’s kind of been our success this year,” Ditlefsen said.
“One through nine we’ve been able to usually get a rally going, but that wasn’t the case today.”
Sequim now sits in third place with a game at North Mason on Friday.
“We could still finish anywhere from third to fourth to fifth, so we have to finish strong,” Ditlefsen said.
Kingston 8, Sequim 4
Kingston 0 4 0 1 1 0 2 — 8 12 0
Sequim 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 — 4 7 5
WP- Torento; LP- Campbell (2-1)
Pitching Statistics
Kingston: Torento 7IP, 7H, 3BB, 4HBP, 3K, 4ER.
Sequim: Campbell 3.1IP, 8H, 3BB, 5R, 3ER, 4K; Hudson 2.2 IP, 2H, 0BB, R, 0ER, K; Johnston IP, 2H, BB, 2R, ER.
Hitting Statistics
Kingston: Rice 4-4 (RBI, R); Torento 2-4 (2B, RBI); Marinan 2-4 (BB, RBI); Fulton 2-4 (2R, SB).
Sequim: Yamamoto 3-4 (2B, 2RBI, R); Rickerson 2-4 (2R, 3B, SB); Campbell 2-3 (RBI, HBP).
