Community Sports

Sports Beat: Tides baseball in 2nd in conference

The Gig Harbor baseball team is in second place in the South Sound Conference after splitting two games with River Ridge this week.

The Tides (3-2, 3-1) are a game behind league-leading Timberline after beating River Ridge 5-1 on March 28 but losing to the Hawks 3-1 on March 29.

They face Bainbridge High at 7:15 p.m. March 31 at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. The annual Cheney Stadium game is a showcase for top area baseball powers.

The Tides are tied for second in the SSC with Central Kitsap. They face the Cougars in a crucial two-game set next week: at Sehmel Park at 4 p.m. April 3 and at CKHS in Silverdale at 4 p.m. April 4.

Seahawks get first baseball league win

Peninsula (3-4,1-3) earned its first South Sound Conference baseball win on March 29, scoring in the bottom of the seventh for a 10-9 victory over Capital.

The Seahawks had just dropped a 3-2 decision to the Cougars and faced the prospect of falling to 0-4 in league.

Reece Brown of Peninsula hit a walk-off single to defeat Capital, 10-9.

With his team leading 9-8 and Cougars on first and third in the top of the seventh, Peninsula coach Michael Johnson sensed the season may be on the line. He called on ace Gavin Sheets — who had not pitched yet this season due to injury — to enter the game as a reliever.

Sheets surrendered a sacrifice fly that tied the game at 9, then induced a double-play grounder to get the Seahawks out of the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Reece Brown smashed a walk-off single to drive in the winning run.

Peninsula plays Yelm twice next week: at Yelm on Monday, April 3, and again at Sehmel Park at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 4.

GH soccer stays unbeaten

Senior Derek Johnson scored two goals as the Gig Harbor boys soccer team (7-0, 5-0) stayed unbeaten by blasting Capital, 4-0, on March 30.

On one of those goals, Johnson used a split step, in-and-out move to freeze a defender, then faked out the Cougar goalie before finally blasting a kick into the net for a 3-0 lead.

Johnson praised the pass from teammate Matt Ludlow that set him up for “the easy finish” on that goal. He said good chemistry is key to the Tides’ success.

“We move the ball really well and focus on possession and I think we have a really good chance to do something big this year,” Johnson said.

Striker Derek Johnson scored two goals for Gig Harbor in a 4-0 win over Capital. Photo by Bryce Carithers

Tide’ coach Joe Ross said: “I am really focused on getting them to trust each other and to play together as a unit. We are blessed with talent and physical attributes but we have to be intelligent and work as a team, if we do that then we will have success this season.”

The Tides play at North Thurston on Tuesday, April 4, before the big match up with the defending league champion Peninsula Seahawks at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 6.

The Seahawks soccer team (2-3, 3-3) suffered two narrow defeats this week by identical 2-1 scores: to North Thurston on March 28 and against River Ridge on March 30.

Also

• Peninsula golfer Hallee Graf continues to tear up South Sound Conference courses. She fired a 36 at the quirky Olympia Golf and Country Club on March 30 and a two over 38 at the difficult Cascade Course at Gold Mountain in Bremerton on March 23.
• The Peninsula and Gig Harbor lacrosse teams face off at 7:45 p.m. March 31 at Roy Anderson Field. Peninsula won both matchups last year, by a single point each time, to claim the league title while the Tides finished in second place.