PORT ANGELES — The Wilder Baseball Senior Babe Ruth team still is looking for its first win after losing a doubleheader last weekend.
Blaze Baseball of Port Orchard defeated Wilder 6-5 and 15-7 on Saturday at Civic Field.
Wilder, made up of players from all over the North Olympic Peninsula, is stumbling out of the gates with an 0-5 record.
Traditionally, Wilder is one of the better elite baseball programs in the state.
“For my sanity, I hope we get our first win soon,” coach Rob Merritt said.
It didn’t help that Wilder had only 11 players suited up for the doubleheader.
“We should have everyone back soon,” Merritt said.
Wilder has now lost three games by one run.
“As a ball club, we need to get mentally tough,” Merritt said.
Wilder lost their third one-run game of the season in the first game.
Wilder went ahead 2-0 in the first but Blaze jumped ahead 3-2 in the second.
Port Angeles-based Wilder tied the game in the second with a run and then went ahead 4-3 with a run in the third.
Blaze tied the back-and-forth game in the fourth but went ahead for good with two runs in the fifth.
A final run by Wilder in the sixth made it a one-run game.
Port Orchard had nine hits to Wilder’s six while both teams had two errors each.
Easton Napiontek started on the mound and pitched the first four innings, giving up four runs while striking out four.
A.J. Konopaski (0-1) threw the final three innings, picking up the loss while fanning three and giving up two runs.
Napiontek was strong at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI while Cole Uvila went 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI.
In the second game, Blaze scored in every inning but one to blow out Wilder, which scored five in the sixth inning after being behind 13-2.
Austin McConnell (0-2) started the game, giving up six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings while striking out three.
Tyler Morgan went 2-for-4 in the game with a double, two RBIs and a run scored.
Konopaski hit a double, scored a run and had an RBI.
“Blaze had a nice team,” Merritt said. “They were a tough opponent.”
Next Wilder will play a doubleheader at Aberdeen against Aberdeen Senior Babe Ruth on Saturday starting at 5 p.m. at Pioneer Park, and then the teams will play a single game Sunday in Aberdeen.
The two teams will play a doubleheader Sunday if they can only get in a single game Saturday because of rain.
Game One
Blaze 6, Wilder 5
Blaze 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 — 6 9 2
Wilder 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 — 5 6 2
LP- Konopaski (0-1)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Napiontek 4IP, 7H, 4R, 4K, 2BB; Konopaski 3IP, 2H, 2R, 3K, 2BB.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Napiontek 2-3, 2B, 2R, RBI; Uvila 2-3, 2 2B, RBI.
Game Two
Blaze 15, Wilder 7
Blaze 2 0 1 2 3 5 2 — 15 14 3
Wilder 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 — 7 6 4
LP- McConnell (0-2)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: McConnell 4.1IP, 10H, 6ER, 3K, BB; King 1.2IP, 3H, 5R, K, BB, HB; Amuck 1IP, 2H, 2R, BB.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Morgan 2-4, 2B, R, 2RBIs; Konopaski 1-3, 2B, RBI, R.
