Bainbridge completed the home-and-home sweep of North Kitsap on Friday, and once again the man on the mound starred for the Spartans.
It was Nate Deschryver’s turn to lead the way as he pitched five no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts. He also contributed at the plate, having a 2-for-4 day and knocking in four runs in the 12-0 win.
With just one league loss, the two-game series win gave Bainbridge sole control of first place in the division.
“It’s something special to have guys like Nate, JR [Ritchie], Kai [Francis], Jasiah [George], Angel [Maldonado], that can kind of play everywhere,” Bainbridge coach Geoff Brown said. “They’re really good athletes, and they’re able to swing the bat well. They can get it done on both sides of the field.”
After walking the first batter of the game, Deschryver recorded nine consecutive strikeouts, staying well ahead of Viking hitters with his sizzling fastball. He was rarely in trouble, and his defense was up to the job when North Kitsap put the ball in play. “He was outstanding today,” Brown said. “It was his best outing of the year.”
Leadoff hitter Gabe Todd went 4-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs. His speed created plenty of problems as North Kitsap committed a couple of errors in the early innings. A throwing error allowed him to score and then George’s ground ball brought home Ritchie, and Bainbridge had an early 2-0 lead.
“Against good teams, you can’t give them extra outs,” North Kitsap coach Jeff Weible said. “We gave them a bunch of extra outs today, and they took advantage.”
It was death by a thousand cuts as Bainbridge scored one run each in the second, third and fourth innings, lengthening the lead little-by-little as Deschryver dominated on the mound. Deschryver brought home two runs with a single in the fifth, and Maldonado followed with an RBI-hit to extend the lead to 8-0. Owen McWilliam drove in a run in the sixth with his second triple of the game, and Ritchie followed with an RBI-double. Deschryver capped the scoring with another two-RBI single. “When we play clean and we do what we do, we’re hard to beat,” Brown said.
Both teams have a big home-and-home series this week. Bainbridge will face Central Kitsap April 20 and April 22.
On those same dates, North Kitsap will face Port Angeles, beginning with a game on the North Olympic Peninsula on Tuesday. Port Angeles has beaten North Kitsap in their past four games. In three of them, the Roughriders took the lead in the final inning.
“We have to get after those guys,” Weible said. “They’ve gotten us four times in a row by one run each time. We flush these; there’s nothing you can do about it now except learn from them.”
Bainbridge 12, N. Kitsap 0
BI 2 1 1 1 3 4 — 12 14 0
NK 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 1 3
WP: Deschryver LP: Brockett
Pitching
Bainbridge — Deschryver 5 IP, 3 BB, 11 K; Francis IP, H, BB.
North Kitsap — Brockett 4.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 7 K; C. Edwards .2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, BB, K; Sorenson .2 IP, H, K.
Hitting
Bainbridge — Deschryver 2-4, 4 RBI; McWilliam 2-4, 2 3B, RBI, 2 R; Todd 4-4, 2 RBI, 2 R; Ritchie 2-2, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, 4 R, SB; George 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-4, RBI, R; Mielke 1-3, R.
N. Kitsap — Gore 1-2, BB; Z. Edwards 0-1, 2 BB; C. Edwards 0-0, BB.
