The Vashon High School Pirate baseball team lost 8-3 to the Kalama Chinooks at the Castle Rock regional tournament on Saturday, ending their bid for a state finals appearance. The Pirates ended their season with a 10-7 record.

Seniors playing their final game for the Pirates included the high heat lefty Micah Deibell and back stopper Tom Schumaker. Justin Calhoun, another ace pitcher until he injured his arm last season, was on second base.

Nathan Ott, last week’s grand slam hero, was on first. Adam Powelson held down left field. And Chris Allman, the Pirates’ steady bat and second pitching ace, was in center field.

Deibell was throwing heat. But the story of the Pirate loss was the 5 errors committed in the field, one of which allowed the Chinooks to take a 1-0 first inning lead.

Deibell helped himself out in the second by reaching base on a single. Sophomore Joe Gilmour, who was 2 for 3 as a designated hitter, later brought him in to tie the score.

The Pirates struck again in the third with sophomore Matt Amick leading off with a hard-hit single to left field. After stealing second, he was brought the rest of the way home by Calhoun’s single. But the Pirates left two additional runners stranded.

The wheels started to come off the Pirate wagon in the fourth when back-to-back singles put Chinook runners on first and second with only one out. Not wanting to let the game get out of hand, Coach Steve Hall brought in junior Chris Pieterick in relief. A wild pitch, followed by a Pirate fielding error, loaded the bases with only one out. By the end of the inning, the Chinooks had scored 4 runs on only 3 hits to take a 5-2 lead.

The Pirates looked to score again when Schumaker slammed a 3-2 pitch deep to left in the 5th. It was caught at the fence, near where a similar deep fly by “Shoey” died in the third. Calhoun reached base on another single but was left stranded after stealing second.

Sophomore Wes Paulson relieved Pieterick in the sixth. After a Kalama runner reached base on another Pirate error, Paulson picked him off with a nice move to the bag. He retired the remaining two batters to give the Pirates their last chance at redemption.

The Pirates had two runners on base on walks when Calhoun sacrificed to deep center. But that one run was the only additional scoring the Pirates would muster in the loss.

“It’s a great group of kids,” said coach Steve Hall. “We had ups and downs, but the boys always managed to bounce back after losses and rededicate themselves to improve their game.”