By CHARLIE PIETERICK
For The Beachcomber
The VHS Pirates baseball team took three conference wins last week to earn a first place standing in the Nisqually 1A League. The league title will be decided this week, the final week of the regular season.
The Pirates beat Charles Wright Academy 6-3 on Monday, April 21.
Senior lefty fireballer Micah Deibel took the mound for the Pirates. The two teams traded runs early before the Tarriers went ahead by one in the fifth. CWA threatened to break it open with the bases loaded and two outs when a Tarrier batter laced the ball into right center field. Sophomore Matt Amick chased it down for a highlight-reel, full-speed diving catch to strand the runners. The Pirates again tied it up in the sixth.
With junior Chris Pieterick holding the Tarriers scoreless in relief, the Pirate bats came out. Senior Chris Allman got on base early and stole two bases to reach third. He was singled in by classmate Justin Calhoun to give the Pirates the lead. Sophomore Wes Paulson walked and later stole second. Senior Nathan Ott, who had brought in a run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth, lined the ball into left field to bring in two and round out the Pirate scoring.
On Saturday, April 27, under rare sunny skies, the Pirates hosted the Life Christian Eagles in a double-header and took both ends, 8-2 and 10-0.
Wes Paulson was on the hill for the Pirates in the opener. After allowing two runs in the first, he closed the door the rest of the way.
The Pirate bats rang to life in a huge second inning. After Paulson was hit by a pitch, Ott laced a double to move the two into scoring position. Senior Adam Powelson then pushed the ball into right field to bring them in. Following a Pieterick single and picture-perfect bunt by Deibel to load the bases, Allman pounded a line drive up the middle to score another 2.
Following an Eagle pitching change, senior Tom Schumaker came to the plate. During his battle to a full count, Pieterick and Deibel executed a double steal to get into scoring position. They needn’t have bothered. “Shoey” pounded the ball into deep left center for a triple, allowing the two to coast into home. Calhoun completed the inning’s scoring by singling “Shoey” home. That was all the runs the Pirates would score, or need, in the 10-hit, 8-2 victory.
The second game echoed the first. Allman baffled Eagle batters with his three-quarter and submarine deliveries. Excellent Pirate defense and hitting did the rest.
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning. After the first three Pirates reached base, Adam Powelson knocked a slow roller up the third base line and turned on the jets to beat the throw to first, allowing Amick to score from third. With the bases loaded, Pieterick then bounced a hopper through the right side, scoring two. Successive singles by Deibel, Allman, and Calhoun brought in the remaining runs of the inning to put the Pirates up 7-0.
Peter Johnson led off the fifth inning with a great at-bat. Working to a full count, he fouled off three pitches before picking one out to drive to left field.Allman continued to pitch shutout baseball behind the Pirates’ 10 runs on 13 hits, closing out the shortened game after five innings.
