Community Sports

Sports beat: Peninsula fastpitch wraps up unbeaten league campaign

It’s time for the Sports Beat, our weekly capsule of local athletic events. There’s a lot to cover in this busy spring report, with more than 20 teams and hundreds of local athletes in action.

We begin with the game of the week on the fastpitch diamond, where the South Sound Conference-leading Peninsula Seahawks (17-1, 14-0 SSC) beat Gig Harbor (9-6, 9-4) 6-3 on Tuesday, May 10.

Alli Kimball was on the mound for Peninsula, fresh off her back-t0-back perfect games versus Central Kitsap.

The game was scoreless through three innings, with Kimball striking out batters with the hot sauce and Gig Harbor pitcher Ella Barrett matching her pitch for pitch. For a while, it looked like the Tides might pull an upset over the sixth-ranked Seahawks.

Ryley Peschek had a triple and a home run for Gig Harbor against Peninsula. Photo by Ed Johnson Ed Johnson

Tides second baseman Riley Peschek, who owns a .607 batting average, started off the fourth inning against Kimball, who sports a 0.56 ERA. Kimball had struck out Peschek in the first inning and has no fear.

Peschek launched a deep shot to right field. Her father, Tides head coach Jim Peschek, yelled, “Go, go, get out of here,” but the ball landed on the very top of the fence and bounced back into play. The younger Peschek sprinted to third, where she consoled her father, who thought the triple had been a home run.

After the next batter drew a walk, coach Peschek rolled the dice by calling for a double steal. The catcher’s throw to second was high and Riley Peschek raced home for a 1-0 lead. The Seahawks were down a run in the SSC for the first time all year.

At the two teams’ previous meeting on April 6, AC/DC’s “Back in Black” blared from the Seahawks’ dugout after each RBI in Peninsula’s 6-0 win. After Gig Harbor got the early lead in this game, the Tides’ dugout boomed “Sit Down and Be Humble“ by Kendrick Lamar.

Apparently Peninsula’s Aislinn O’Reilly didn’t want to sit down. She hit a three-run bomb to left center field that cleared the fence by at least 20 yards. They added two more runs, scoring five in the inning.

With Kimball pitching and a 5-1 lead, the SSC crown looked decided. But the Tides didn’t make it easy.

Aislinn O’Rielly hit a giant three run home run against the Tides to put the game out of reach and win the SSC title. Photo by Ed Johnson Ed Johnson

Peschek’s next hit did clear the fence in the fifth, and shortstop Audrey Allen got a key hit as the Tides scored another run in the sixth. Gig Harbor mounted a threat with two outs in the seventh before Kimball put the game away.

Both teams will advance to next weekend’s District 3/4 tournament at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.

Tides edges Seahawks in district soccer tournament

A sports adage says that it’s hard to beat the same opponent three times in a season. That proved to be true on the soccer pitch, where Gig Harbor avenged two previous losses to Peninsula on Thursday.

The Tides knocked off the Seahawks 2-1 in a district tournament game with important implications for seeding into the state tournament. With the win, Gig Harbor took third and Peninsula fourth in the District 3/4 tournament.

Gig Harbor (12-4-1) got goals from Caleb Gilbert in the 17th minute and Kyler Goodin in the 37th to beat SSC regular season champion Peninsula (12-3-2). Reilly Leahy scored late for the Seahawks.

Both teams will advance out of the district tournament, but the date and location of their next games had not been determined as of Friday afternoon.

Golf: Peninsula’s Graf earns SSC individual title

The Peninsula girls golf team (7-0) won the league championships in impressive fashion.The Seahawks were led by a brilliant performance from Hallee Graf, who won the individual SSC  title with a 5-over 77 on the 6,094 yard Home Course in Dupont.

The performance was better than all but four boys out of the 85 boy and girl contestants. Gig Harbor was led by Carly Ikei, who finished second for the league title to Graf. Both local golfers will compete for a chance at the state tournament on May 16-17 at McCormick Woods in Port Orchard.

SSC individual champion Hallee Graf shot a 77 at the difficult Home Course to win the conference championship. Photo courtesy of PHS

Also competing for the SSC-champion Seahawks girls golf team were Nyah Dayton, Sydney Pifer, Kaylee Stanton, Mia Sykes and Austin Quillio.

The Gig Harbor boys golf team finished second, just three strokes behind Capitol. Senior captain Aidan McDougall and sophomore Chet West both shot 3-over 75s to lead the Tides. The Tides will compete in districts for spots in the state tournament on May 16-17 at Trophy  Lake in Port Orchard.  They will be joined by a Seahawk boys team (3-4) which finished fifth at districts and were led by Elliot Siddal who shot an 85.

League track meet continues Saturday

The SSC track meet continues Saturday at North Thurston High School. Peninsula is the favorite on the girls side based on pre-meet seeding, and are in a close four team race with Capitol, Gig Harbor and Central Kitsap.

The Gig Harbor boys team are favored slightly over Yelm, but the race for the league title will be a close one. In early results from Thursday the Tides’ 400 meter relay team was crowned league champions with a blistering 43.80. The team of Ben Stevens, Brian Wheelus, Cole Rushforth and anchor Nick Grover owns the state’s third-best time this year.

Gig Harbor’s South Sound Conference champion 4×100 relay team owns the third fastest time in the state at 43.80. Contributed

The top six from the league meet advance to districts at Kent Meridian next week. The top eight finishers from that meet will then advance to state at Mount Tahoma High School.

League tennis championships wrap up Saturday

Both local girls tennis teams will be in action Saturday, May 14, at the league championships on the indoor courts at Canterwood.

Gig Harbor won the regular season SSC title with a perfect 7-0 record, while the Peninsula girls finished fourth place in the difficult SSC.

Gig Harbor’s No. 1 player, Hailey Austin, will be aiming for a league title and might find herself playing Gig Harbor’s No. 2 player, Lindsey Muske, somewhere in the ladies draw, to advance.

The Gig Harbor Tides are the girls tennis SSC champions, with a undefeated 8-0 record. Photo by Bryce Carithers Bryce Carithers

Lacrosse: Peninsula boys host Hermiston; Riptides fall to Holy Names

The Peninsula boys lacrosse team opens the playoffs at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 14, against Hermiston, Oregon, at Roy Anderson Field. Hermiston is the only Oregon school that competes in the WIAA.

The Seahawks have a very quick and physical team that usually wear down their opponents by continually winning face-offs, which keep them in control of the ball. They are also very strong in goal with Ryder Clark, who had 23 saves in a recent 14-13 win over Peninsula.

The Riptides girls lacrosse team, which combines players from Gig Harbor and Peninsula, were ranked 10th in the state before falling to No. 6 Holy Names of Seattle. The team was led by goalie Ashley Hamill, a senior from Peninsula, who posted a save percentage of 67. Another Peninsula student, Reese Anderson, had 30 assist on the season. The team was led by head coach Madison Lancaster and assistant Jenn Caplinger.

Be sure to check next week’s Sports Beat for more results from the league, district and state tournaments.