Community Sports
Sports Beat | Peninsula baseball bounces back with big win over Capital
The Peninsula baseball team (11-5, 10-3 Puget Sound League Nisqually Division) got a big win over division-leading Capital, exploding for six runs in the fourth inning of a 7-2 win on April 22 at Sehmel Field.
The Seahawks desperately needed the win. They suffered a pair of close loses to North Thurston a couple weeks ago and fell a game behind Capital in the division standings.
Seahawk starting pitcher Kaleb Copeland came up with a huge performance against the Cougars. He surrendered two runs in the first inning but cruised after that, allowing no more runs while striking out seven.
Kaleb Copeland of Peninsula was the winning pitcher versus Capital. Photo by Ed Johnson
The Seahawks got one run back in the bottom of the first inning before blowing the game open with six runs in the fourth.
Isaac Schultz-Tait went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs, Daniel Sleeter went 1 for 3 with two RBIs and Pete Browand went 1 for 4 with two RBIs.
Those four hits were all the Seahawks accumulated but their offense was still very productive. They drew nine walks — Matthew Sleeter walked three times, while Kainoa Coit and Michael Tellez both walked twice. Schultz-Tait stole two bases and Thomas Marzano added another.
Coit, a sophomore, leads Peninsula with a .433 batting average and a .585 slugging percentage. Schultz-Tait leads the team with 18 runs and nine steals. Browand has a team-high 19 RBIs while freshman pitcher Daniel Sleeter has the lowest ERA on the team at 0.50.
Coach Matt Thomas’s Seahawks lost a rematch to Capital, 7-6, in Olympia on April 23. That knocked the Seahawks back into second place in the Nisqually Division, just a half-game behind Capital (12-3, 10-2), with three league games left to play.
Peninsula has a tough remaining schedule but retains a path to winning the division. The Seahawks need to beat Gig Harbor (16-1), Silas (11-6), and Central Kitsap (8-8) — and for Capital to drop another game, potentially to Gig Harbor on April 29 at Sehmel Park. Capital’s other opponents to wrap up the season will be Lincoln (0-14) and Lakes (1-13).
Matthew Saunders of Peninsula bunts against Capital. Photo by Ed Johnson
GH baseball finally drops a game
Meanwhile the Tides (16-1, 12-1 Narrows Division) slipped from the ranks of the unbeaten after splitting two games with Central Kitsap. Gig Harbor won 1-0 on April 22 in Silverdale but lost the following day at Sehmel Park, 2-0.
Gig Harbor had chances in the second game. The Tides had two runners on base with one out in both the sixth and seventh innings, but couldn’t get the timely hits to drive in their runners.
Tides pitcher Nathan Cheek surrendered two early runs before settling down and keeping the Cougars off balance with breaking balls and off-speed pitches.
Leading hitters for Gig Harbor this season include Greyson Riley, with 14 hits and a team-high .438 average; Cole Krilich is batting .421 with 16 hits and four doubles; Ethan Mar averages .412 with 14 hits; Jayce Corley is batting .395; and Daniel Porras is batting .341 with 14 hits and a team-high two home runs.
The Tides’ top pitcher is junior Quentin Bockhorn, who leads the team with a 0.37 earned run average that has gained the attention of college scouts.
The Tides have clinched the Narrows Division championship, leading by three and a half games with only three games left.
The Seahawks and Tides face off at 4 p.m. Friday, April 25, at Sehmel Park for crosstown bragging rights.
Fastpitch teams near top of divisional standings
Both local fastpitch teams have been churning through their respective leagues as well. Gig Harbor (11-2, 10-1 Narrows) is tied with Central Kitsap for the Narrows Division lead while Peninsula (10-4, 9-2 Nisqually) is second in the Nisqually Division but just a half-game behind Timberline.
Senior Danielle Biehl leads the Tides. She can throw a sneaky fastball by you on the outside corner for a strikeout, pepper your outfield with line drive doubles or hit a long home run over the centerfield fence.
Biehl has been a four-year starter and the team’s glue for several seasons now. This year, she is batting a ridiculous .744 (35 hits in 47 at bats) with six doubles, five triples and 22 RBIs.
She is also an excellent pitcher who leads the Tides with a 3.66 ERA. Biel threw seven innings in two games this week without allowing a hit.
She is also very tough. She took a smoked line drive directly to her shin against River Ridge on April 10. Most athletes would have been out of the game, but Biehl jumped up, waved off the trainer and closed out an 8-4 victory.
“Well, that really hurt and I cried one tear but I have to finish the game,” Biehl said. “Like, I’m not gonna let the team down, that’s just not who I am.”
Danielle Biehl of Gig Harbor is all business on the fastpitch diamond. Photo by Dennis Browne
Biehl also has a special relationship on the field with coach Jim Peschek. “Jim’s amazing, he’s a really good coach and motivator. … He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had and he works with all the girls individually. ‘Attitude and effort’ is his motto and it’s been that for my four years here and before, I think that says it all.”
A previously scheduled matchup between the Tides and Seahawks was rained out. Instead, the two will clash at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at Gig Harbor High School’s upper field. Both teams are healthy, primed and ready to go.
Ava Miranda, the Seahawks’ top hitter and durable catcher, offered her thoughts on the big matchup.
“I am really excited and those really competitive games are what we look forward to in this sport,” she said. “I am looking forward to the challenge, I think we all are.”
Tides girls golf clinches division title
The Gig Harbor girls golf team clinched the Narrows Division title with a knee knocker against the previously unbeaten Silas Rams at Allenmore Golf Course in Tacoma on April 22.
The Tides’ five players needed 213 strokes to finish nine holes. That was just five strokes fewer than the 218 of Silas to win the important match and clinch the Narrows Division title.
Gig Harbor freshman Myla Louch shot a sizzling 39 against Silas. Other Tides scores were 41 for junior Sofia Skogen, 43 for senior Carly Ikei and 45s from juniors Laila Douglas and Autumn Coovert.
The previously undefeated Tides boys golf team stumbled for the first time this season against Bellarmine Lions on April 21, losing by seven strokes at Madrona Links. Bellarmine is a golf powerhouse and feature last year’s Class 4A individual state champion, J.J. Bordeaux.
Madrona Links is a relatively short and easy course, that is hard to play if you know what I mean. Some days are diamonds and some days are dust on the Links. Keep the ball in the fairway off the tee and life is a breeze but just a few roll outs to the side and suddenly you are behind several thick trees, punching out and headed for a bogey.
That happened several times to the Tides and the putts just didn’t fall as Gig Harbor finished 10 strokes above their season average against Bellarmine. But the Lions navigated the course without issue and stung the Tides before driving out of the parking lot in their van with the Narrows Division title.
Gig Harbor will seek revenge with the Lions at the upcoming league tournament championship during the second week of May, for both the boys and girls teams, at the Capital City Golf Club in Olympia. The district tournament will be the following week at Allenmore Golf Course in Tacoma.