Despite the loss, Ryan Wike (University of Jamestown) pitched well and has a 3.00 season ERA. (Photo courtesy of Maevis Photography)
Lefties suffer shutout loss to Bellingham
Written by: Thomas Johnson
The Lefties had to match up against some of the best pitchers in the West Coast League Friday night.
The Bellingham Bells started Tyler Van Dyke (Stetson University) on the mound, who still has yet to give up an earned run in West Coast League play across 16 innings as the Bells shutout Port Angeles 6-0.
Van Dyke only gave up three hits across his five innings and the two relievers who replaced him, Lane Simonsen (University of Washington) and Callum Young (Everett CC), did not allow any hits. Similar to Van Dyke, Young still has not allowed any earned runs across 12.1 innings.
While Friday night saw the end of Ethan Kodoma’s (UC Berkeley) six-game hitting streak, he still drew three walks to extend his on-base streak to eight games.
It’s Kodoma’s second three-walk game this WCL season, with the first one starting this on-base streak. The outfielder has raised his OBP from .333 on June 20 up to .404, which trails only Jeremy Giesegh (Cal State San Bernardino) on the Lefties.
Giesegh recorded one of Port Angeles’ three hits, starting the Lefties off with a leadoff single in the first frame. The Cal State San Bernardino product is just two hits off the league lead for knocks, as he’s been on the Lefties’ most consistent hitters all season.
The Port Angeles defense also seemed to improve, only committing one error that happened in the ninth inning. The Lefties came into the game averaging 1.54 errors per WCL game and as such, the squad’s pitching staff had been tagged with 35 unearned runs.
Julio Vasquez Jr. (Henderson State) was a large part of the defensive efforts, coming in as a defensive replacement. In the seventh frame — one inning after Vasquez Jr. came into the game — the third baseman snagged a hard-hit ball and made a good throw to retire the runner.
Just one inning later, Vasquez Jr. made a long run into foul territory and caught a ball over his shoulder to get the first out in the inning. Vasquez Jr. has shown his versatility in the field all season, playing first base, third base and lining behind the plate as well.
The Lefties return to Civic Field Saturday night to face off against the Bellingham Bells again. John Vaara (Port Angeles High School, Edmonds College).
