The Vashon High School Pirates baseball team took back-to-back games over the weekend, improving their record to an early season 3-0.
Vashon faced league threat Seattle Christian Friday, March 25, on the Warriors’ home field. It was a tense game that went into extra innings before the Pirates pulled off a great 2-0 win in the ninth.
The game was knotted at 0 through regulation play, with neither side able to do much with the other’s pitching. Vashon didn’t get a base hit off Warrior starter Brock Wrolstad until the sixth inning. The Pirates then loaded the bases twice and couldn’t bring in a run.
In the top of the ninth, it was little infield hits and quick feet that got the first two runners on base. They scored two runs on a hit and a deep sacrifice fly, and held on tight through the bottom of the inning to pick up the win.
Vashon’s Logan Hawkins had the start and worked a beautiful game through three, turning it over to Ashton Dulfer who had to leave the game after only 24 pitches. Jeremy Pilgrim-Stoppel came in and finished out the game, pitching very well in his first appearance of the season.
After a long evening Friday, the team took on Bellevue Christian at its home field Saturday, March 26. After two games of limited offense, the Pirate bats came alive as they took it to the Vikings and won 18-8 in six innings.
Starting on the mound for the Pirates was senior Chester Pruett, who went the first three, allowing only one earned run. Dulfer returned to the mound picking up where he left off the night before.
Hawkins hit his first home run of the season, opening the flood gates for the Pirates’ barrage of hits.
Head Coach Steve Hall said the two-game sweep was a testament to Vashon’s talented team.
“It was an impressive pair of wins this week against two teams on opposite sides of the spectrum,” Hall said. “Seattle Christian is a very talented team with two great starting pitchers. We showed the poise and determination I’ve seen so far with this group battling to the end. Bellevue Christian is a very young team, but proved they could hit and battle with the best of us. The boys kept putting the pressure on them and after giving us a scare coming within two runs, they cracked in the bottom of the sixth and we put the game away.”
Hall commended the pitching efforts of Pilgrim-Stoppel, Pruett and Dulfer saying that Dulfer “shut the door” in the final couple innings against Bellevue.
“We have Bellevue twice more this coming week, and we’re going to have to keep putting the pressure on them,” Hall said. “It’s tough to beat anyone three times in a row.”
Vashon played Bellevue Christian on the Vikings’ home field again on Tuesday after press time. The Vikings will travel to the island Thursday, March 31, for a 4 p.m. game at Vashon High School.
— Cheryl Pruett is the mother of two Vashon High School athletes.
