They tie with Seattle Prep, but blank Lakeside to
stay in third place.
Bainbridge head soccer coach George Vukic didn’t mince words after the team’s home game with Seattle Prep Tuesday.
“We were outworked,” he said. “We thought we had it in the bag (after the first half.) We started the game with the right attitude, but this team (Seattle Prep) has a lot of good players on it and you can’t afford to be complacent.”
The Spartans got on the Panthers with two early goals, but Prep took advantage on some breaks to come away with a 2-2 tie.
“We could have easily lost this game,” he said. “It was the worst game of the season. But to tie it and not lose your worst game is (putting) a positive spin on it.”
Dylan Tucker-Ganges got things started in the 10th minute when, despite a double team, he was able to make a nice cross pass to Leandre Fischer, who easily put it in.
In the 18th minute, Tucker-Ganges scored on a free kick as he took the pass and put one in the right corner of the goal while fighting off a defender that was right on his hip to give them a lead that many felt they wouldn’t relinquish.
But in the second half, the Panthers got back into things when Tom Cowan took a shot from several yards out that bounced off the top crossbar.
Colin Parker took advantage by putting back the rebound past goalie Alex Bolt, who was caught out of position when he tried to deflect the previous shot.
Alex Wheatley tied it up in the 68th minute as he put in a rainbow from 30 yards out that just made it past the outstretched hands of Bolt.
Tucker-Ganges agreed with his coach’s assessment of their performance.
“They just outworked us,” he said. “We thought we had it in the first half. We’re obviously the better team, but they took it to us in the second half. We were just lackadaisical and expected to win.”
But Vukic won’t put how they did all on his players.
“I’ll take a little blame for it,” he said. “I should have asked them to come in with the same sort of a gritty, ambitionless attitude of a Blanchet encounter, where you’re fighting and scratching for whatever you can.”
The tie didn’t hurt their standing in the Metro League Mountain Division as Bainbridge came out and defeated Lakeside 3-0 on Thursday.
Ben Jones, Jimmy Baggett and Elijah Distefano all scored, as Tucker-Ganges had two assists.
Vukic said they won’t let the late collapse get them down.
“They want to win and they want to work together,” he said.
Bainbridge plays O’Dea next Tuesday and Eastside Catholic next Thursday for their last two games of the season.
If they win both, they can move into second place in the Mountain Division depending on whether Bishop Blanchet loses to Eastside Catholic or Lakeside.
Hardballers stay tied for first
The eighth ranked Bainbridge baseball team could have suffered a setback when they lost to O’Dea 3-1 last Friday for just their second league loss of the season.
Instead, they came back and got wins over Chief Sealth on Monday and Eastside Catholic on Wednesday by the scores of 15-5 and 15-10, respectively.
They also got a bonus when the Crusaders defeated the Panthers 6-2 last Thursday to pull both teams into a tie for first in the Metro League Mountain Division.
Wednesday’s game turned into an slugfest when the weather became the tenth man for Eastside Catholic, turning three fly balls into two three run home runs and a solo shot.
“It reminded me of the old Wiffle ball days,” head coach Jayson Gore said. “We scored three (runs), they scored three. We scored four, they scored two.
“I felt bad for (starter) Tal (Glass) because he has an inflated ERA now,” he continued. “It was a 15-2 ballgame without the wind.”
But Bainbridge countered Eastside Catholic’s offensive explosion with one of their own.
First baseman Robbie Stevenson said they were “hitting the ball all over the field.”
“Everybody hit,” he said. “From the bottom to the top of the order” everyone put the ball in play.
He and outfielder Michael Heald did their part as they each had three hits and three RBI.
The Spartans scored in every inning except the fourth.
More importantly, the two wins puts them back into the playoffs after missing them last season.
But they won’t get caught up in the big series with the Panthers next week.
“We can’t look ahead,” Gore said. “The big thing is that we want a number one or two seed. But we gotta keep our focus and we can’t let our guard down like we did in the O’Dea game.”
Bainbridge played Eastside Catholic yesterday.
They play Prep Monday at White Center Park, then host the Panthers on Wednesday on the last game of the season.
Game time is at 3:30 p.m.
Fastpitchers still in playoff hunt
After Bainbridge pitcher Lindsay Willmann gave up a home run to Eastside Catholic’s Brittany Brown in the first inning of Wednesday’s game, she admitted that she was “struggling.”
“It was kind of a downer (after the homer), but after that, it was good. It went really well,” she said.
The sophomore hurler got back on track by shutting down the Crusaders with 14 strikeouts for the game as the Spartans won 7-1.
The win keeps them a game behind Bishop Blanchet and Holy Names for first place in the Metro League Mountain Division.
The 14 K’s is a season high for any Bainbridge pitcher.
Head coach Liz McCloskey said they underestimated Eastside Catholic at first.
“We knew it would be a good game,” she said. “They have a talented group of kids. They’re young (their roster is mostly freshman and sophomores) and their senior (player) hits well here, but it was a good game for us.”
McCloskey gave credit to Willmann and catcher Brittany Wisner for their strong play and to the offense for getting on track.
“We were getting on base and moving people over and we were actually playing the game that we should play every day,” she said. “It was fun. They had fun and it was a great win for us.”
Cara Thompson and Wisner were 2 for 3 with three RBI between the both of them while Chelsie Kakela was 3 for 3 with her sixth home run of the season. She also scored three runs.
The Spartans played Eastside Catholic yesterday.
They play at Seattle Prep next Monday, then take on West Seattle in a makeup game next Tuesday at home, then host the Panthers on Wednesday in the last game of the regular season.
Both home games are at 3:30 p.m.
Local gymnast places fourth
Brooke Williams, a sixth grader at Sakai Intermediate School, placed second on the vault with a score of 9.525 at the Level 8 Region 2 Gymnastics Championships held in Yakima last weekend.
Williams, who competes for Cascade Elite Gymnastics, competed against the top gymnasts from Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska, Idaho and Montana.
She placed fifth on the beam with a score of 9.675 and on the floor she scored a 9.325. Williams also scored a 9.300 on the uneven bars.
She finished in fourth place in the all-around with a score of 37.825.
