Varsity gets one game in
After another week of inclement weather, the Vashon Pirate baseball team managed to get one game in. It was a close, nail-biting affair on the home field Friday, March 18, against Cascade Christian. Vashon won the contest by a slim 1-0 final score behind the strong pitching of senior Logan Hawkins and junior Ashton Dulfer.
The Pirates’ lone run was artfully manufactured in the bottom of the first inning when senior Sam Schoenberg got a lead-off hit, stole second, took third on a sacrifice hit and came home on a sacrifice fly by Hawkins. The Pirate offense was limited to two hits for Schoenberg, two for Dulfer and one for Hawkins as they faced Cascade’s ace Tyler Fox. The hits were scattered and isolated, and the rest of the lineup put the ball in play throughout the game, but couldn’t advance a runner past second.
Vashon returned the favor with exceptional pitching. Hawkins worked the first four innings, walking two, striking out five and allowing only two hits. Dulfer came to the bump in the fifth. He allowed one walk, no hits and struck out two. Cascade threatened late in the game and managed to get a runner to third, but they were quickly shut down by some great Pirate defense and two nifty double plays on the day.
After three weeks of practice and no pre-season games, head coach Steve Hall was happy to get the first game in and under their belts.
“It was a great win over a well-coached and tough Cascade Christian team. Tyler Fox is as tough a pitcher as we’ll face in our league. Although we only had four hits off him, we battled and made a lot of contact against him. The boys looked very poised and confident. Hawkins and Dulfer were dealing on the mound, and defensively we were very impressive. It’s a long season, and it was a great way to start,” he said.
The team’s games set for Monday, March 21 at Seattle Christian were postponed due to rain. The team is set to play today, March 23, at Charles Wright Academy. Home action will take place this Saturday against Bellevue Christian at 1 p.m.
Pirates JV rolls through first two games
The Pirates junior varsity team got two games in last week. Exceptional pitching that struck out 37 and allowed only three runs over two games crushed competition from Seattle Lutheran and Darrington.
Freshman Ary Dulfer and sophomore Andreas Stark threw a combined no-hitter to lead the JV Pirates to an 18-0 win over the Seattle Lutheran Saints. Dulfer got the start and earned the win with nine strikeouts while allowing only two base runners over four shutout innings. Stark struck out the side to close out the game in the fifth. Sam Knight led the offense going 3-3 with three RBIs.
Friday, March 18, at Darrington, the pitching dominance continued. Sophomore Armando Oat-man threw two shutout innings to start the game. Stark took over in the third and scattered three runs and 10 strikeouts over his four innings. Freshman Will Gard closed out the game by striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh. Vashon had nine two-out hits that paced them to the 9-3 win.
The JV team travels to Charles Wright today, March 23, and will go to Seattle Christian on Friday, March 25.
— Cheryl Pruett is the mother of two VHS athletes.
