Sports

Sports beat: Peninsula fastpitch begins state tournament run

It’s time for the Sports Beat, a capsule of this week’s best performances from local prep athletes and teams.

We begin on the diamond, where the red-hot Peninsula fastpitch team won the district championship on May 21 with a 5-2 win over Bonney Lake. In three district tournament games, they outscored their opponents 25-2.

Coach Mike Paul’s team is seeded fourth into this weekend’s state tournament. The Seahawks will open state tournament play at 2 p.m. Friday, May 27, against Monroe, which beat Heritage earlier Friday. A possible rematch with Bonney Lake awaits at 6 p.m. Friday.

The Peninsula girls fastpitch team is 19-1 and seeded fourth in the Class 3A state tournament. Ed Johnson

The top seed in the tournament is Walla Walla (19-2), which Peninsula could face in a semifinal at 10 a.m. Saturday if both teams advance. The state championship game is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 28.

One key for the Seahawks will be to get thru Friday’s games while keeping Alli Kimball’s pitching arm relatively fresh for Saturday. The state format calls for multiple games played over two days, which can de devastating for pitchers.

Depth is required and the Seahawks have a quality number two pitcher in Aislinn O’Reilly, who has a 4.73 ERA. If O’Reilly and others can get Kimball to the mound rested and ready on Saturday, they have a real shot at a state title. The Seahawks are capable of scoring runs on anybody and only need a couple runs when Kimball and her 0.52 ERA is in the pitchers circle.

All games are to be played at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey and you can track results at the WIAA fastpitch page.

Local doubles teams at state tournament

Two local tennis doubles teams are playing in the state tournament Friday, May 27, in Richland.

The Gig Harbor girls team of Alexa Lavinder and Alexa Thoms combine quickness, stamina and communication.

Alexa Lavinder prepares to return serve as Alexa Thoms looks on. Their doubles team is in Richland for the state championships. Jeff Crowder

“We know exactly how each other plays and how to keep each other positive after a point that doesn’t go our way,” Thoms said.

They opened tournament play Friday against a duo from Shorewood High School.

Boys tennis teams compete in fall but have their state tournament in spring. The Peninsula duo of Zach Lipsey and Ethan Sun were 12-1 this season and have complimenting styles — Sun is quick and dominates the net and Lipsey thrives at the baseline, where he consistently fires forehands for winners. Both possess solid serving games and know how to stay cool under pressure.

“It will take teamwork, grit and a lot of love and support for us to make it far in the tournament,” Sun said.

“For Ethan and I to win, we will need to stay mentally strong and not make unforced errors, as long as we do that we’ll have a good chance of winning the match,” Lipsey said.

One person who will be watching from afar will be former coach Ian Skidmore, who coached the duo for four years but has since relocated to Florida with his family. Skidmore was 33-7 in the last 5 years and had quickly built a powerhouse Seahawk team that regularly competed for SSC boys titles.

He will be added to the tennis hall of fame at the University of Kentucky, where he starred collegiality, later this year.

“He’s the best coach I’ve ever had,” Lipsey said. “He is a tennis genius that could see any problem and tell us exactly what we were doing wrong and how to fix it quickly, he always knew what to do.”

The Peninsula High doubles team of Zach Lipsey and Ethan Sun with coach Ian Skidmore. Peninsula High School

Baseball: Seahawks’ season ends at state

The Peninsula baseball team (16-8) were South Sound Conference champions for the first time since 2012. Their season ended May 21 at the regional round of the state tournament in a 8-0 loss to Lincoln of Seattle.

“I want to thank the seniors for everything you gave to this program over the last four years and for helping set a new standard for what it means to be part of the Seahawk baseball program,” coach Michael Johnson said. “Your examples of attitude and effort have brought this program together and helped us achieve new heights.”

The coach went on to thank assistant coach Steve Atkinson.

“There is a saying, ‘behind every good head coach there is a great assistant,’” Johnson said. “Well, I don’t know how good I am, but I can tell you there is no doubt how great coach Atkinson is!”

Soccer: Peninsula falls in round of eight

The Peninsula boys soccer team, (13-4-2) also saw their season end with a 4-1 loss to No. 2 Lakeside in the second round of the state tournament on May 21.

The South Sound Conference champion Seahawks upset seventh-seeded North Central of Spokane 3-1 to open the tournament before losing to  Lakeside. Ozer Kocdemir, selected as SSC coach of the year, took the Seahawks to the final eight in the state in his first year.

The Seahawks will graduate some outstanding players, including leading scorers Reilly Leahy, Justin Bodnar and Cory Burbridge; defensive standouts like Hunter Beck; goalie Yzahir Corneilo; as well as Lukas Bock, Luis Zacharias and John Ortiz. Seven experienced juniors should return to provide a solid foundation for next year.

The tight knit Seahawk soccer team were SSC champions and a top eight finisher at the state tournament. Bryce Carithers

Star Track this weekend

The state track championships are this weekend at Mount Tahoma High School.

Gig Harbor, which won both the boys and the girls SSC championships, will send 13 athletes. Peninsula will have several solid runners in the distance events.

The state track meet, known as Star Track, is a whirlwind, with multiple events occurring simultaneously most of the day. Saturday’s action begin at 10:30 a.m., as one of the states most exciting spectator sports in the state is just a short drive from Gig Harbor.

Peninsula’s Graf 13th at state; GH boys 8th

The Peninsula junior Hallee Graf shot a 72 on the first day of the state golf tournament at Meadowwood in Spokane, good for fourth place after the first round.

She shot a respectable 76 the following day for a combined total of 148. That landed her at 13th place in the state.

Teammate Nyah Dayton shot a 83 and 86 for a two-day total of 169, which was good for 41st place. Gig Harbor’s Carly Ikei shot an opening round of 83 but followed with a 77 to take 27th with a 160.

On the boys side, Gig Harbor finished 8th in the state with consistent efforts from multiple players. They were led by senior Aiden McDougall, who fired a 77 and 84 for a 157 total. Chet West shot a 79-80-159; Zavier Feasey Allen 82-87-169; Rylan Coovert 86-84-170; and Colin Morkert 81-89-170.

Water polo teams competing this weekend

Both local girls water polo teams will be in action this weekend at the Division One state tournament at Curtis High School. Gig Harbor has a young team that has been improving rapidly. Peninsula has an experienced team that has compiled a record of 19-2 with a league championship to its credit.

Be sure to check in next week for all of the results.