Category Archives: Olympia Athletics
Monday scoreboard: A’s catch Saints, Linx keep pace, Silvers snap streak
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Olympia Athletics 5, Lacey Saints 1
West Olympia Linx 8, Hawks Prairie Cardinals 2
Nisqually Silvers 6, Tumwater Brewers 1
Ryan Smith (Chemeketa CC, Black Hills HS) gave up just one run on six hits with six strikeouts over seven innings to lead the Olympia Athletics to a 5-1 win over the Lacey Saints. With the win, the A’s are now tied with the Saints for first place with two games left to play. Smith picked up his league leading sixth win, dropped his ERA to 1.23 and has now struck out 47 batters in 52 innings. Nikko Saenz (St. Mary’s), Matt Sparkuhl (Shoreline CC, Timberline HS) and Dane Cheatly (Centralia College) each had two hits and Bret Grey (Central Washington) drove in two runs for the A’s in the win.
The West Olympia Linx also got a solid outing on the mound from Max Dickinson (Lower Columbia CC) in their 8-2 win over the Hawks Prairie Cardinals. Dickinson went seven innings and gave up just one earned run on eight hits. Sam Williams (Lower Columbia CC) went 3-for-3 with an RBI, Chris Womac (Green River CC, Olympia HS) drove in a run and scored twice and Skyler Wheeler (Grays Harbor CC) had two hits and scored twice for the Linx. Chris McElderry (Oklahoma Wesleyan, Yelm HS) went 3-for-5 for the Cardinals in the loss. The Linx are now just a game out of first place at 11-8 while the Cardinals dropped to 10-9, two games back.
And the Nisqually Silvers pitching staff got into the act with three pitchers combining to give up just one run on eight hits in their 6-1 win over the Tumwater Brewers. Jeff Walton (Univerity of Puget Sound) gave up one earned run over four innings to get the win and Ian Buckles (George Fox University) and Andrei Jankanish (Saint Martin’s) gave up just two hits over the final four innings. The light hitting Silvers pounded out 13 hits tonight. Chase LaComb (Colorado State-Pueblo) went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Spencer Manjarrez (Oregon State), Brandon Evans (Colorado State-Pueblo) and Maika’i Derouin (Grand View University) each added two hits. The win broke the Silvers’ seven game losing streak.
Today (7/22): Last week of PSCL regular season begins
The Puget Sound Collegiate League kicks off the final week of the regular season today with three games at two venues with all playoff seeding still up in the air. The Lacey Saints, Olympia Athletics, Hawks Prairie Cardinals and West Olympia Linx are all in contention for the top two spots and a first round bye. The Saints currently sit on top of the league standings, one game up on the A’s and two up on the Cardinals and Linx.
The Saints and A’s get things started this afternoon at Saint Martin’s with first place on the line. The Saints have been on top of the league all season despite hitting just .235 as a team. Devin Ferguson (Centralia College, North Thurston HS) has been outstanding for the Saints all season hitting .333 with two home runs (the Saints only homers) and 14 RBI. The Saints pitching has made up for the lack of hitting giving up just 81 runs in 24 games, a league low, and the pitching staff has the second lowest earned run average in the league at 2.54. Colin Nilson (PLU) leads the Saints staff at 4-0 and a 1.69 ERA. The A’s have the league’s best offense, leading the league in runs scored (123), team batting average (.275) and home runs (5). Five A’s are in double digits in RBI with Sean Murphy (Murray State College) leading the way with 16 to go along with a league leading three homers. The A’s also feature the league’s only five game winner, Ryan Smith (Chemeketa CC, Black Hills HS). Smith is 5-0 and has given up just seven earned runs in 45 innings for a 1.33 ERA. First pitch tonight is at 5:00 PM.
In game two at the RAC, the Hawks Prairie Cardinals face the West Olympia Linx in a battle between two teams hoping to sneak into one of the first two playoff spots. The Cardinals are led by league MVP candidate Chandler Tracy (Saint Martin’s) and his .348 batting average, 16 RBI and 16 runs scored and Shimpie Sato’s (Olympic College) 4-0 record and 2.10 ERA. On the other side, the Linx feature another league MVP candidate, Chris Womac (Green River CC, Olympia HS), who leads the league with a .387 batting average, a .563 OBP and a 1.031 OPS and has stolen 14 bases and scored 17 runs. The Linx pitching staff has given up just 92 runs this season, second lowest in the league, and have the league’s lowest ERA at 2.50. First pitch is at 7:30 PM.
The 5:00 PM game at the RAC pits the Tumwater Brewers and the Nisqually Silvers, the two teams that can’t get a first round playoff bye but still could improve their position in the standings. Both teams have been offensively challenged this season. The Brewers are hitting just .230 as a team while the Silvers have struggled mightily at just .212. Kyle Holtman (St. Claire County CC) is the only regular for the Brewers hitting over .300 at .329. He is also the only Brewer in double digits in RBI with 12. The Silvers do have two batters hitting over .300, Jordan Falcon (New Mexico Highlands) and Brandon Evans (Colorado State-Pueblo). Both teams also feature a hard luck starting pitcher. Devin Smith (Olympic College) has given up just six earned runs in nine games but is just 1-2 for the Brewers while Ryan Taylor (Olympic College) is also 1-2 but has given up just eight earned in eight games for the Silvers.
Puget Sound Collegiate League leaders: Pitching
Earlier we took a look at the hitting leaders through all but the last week of the regular season of the Puget Sound Collegiate League. Now we take a look at the pitching leaders.
Without question, the top pitcher in the league this season has been Black Hills High School alum Ryan Smith. The current Chemeketa College pitcher leads the league in innings pitched (45), wins (5), strkeouts (41) and is first among starters in earned run average (1.33) and WHIP (0.76) for the Olympia Athletics.
Kegan Duz-Aguilar has been solid in relief for the Tumwater Brewers leading the league in both ERA (0.66) and WHIP (.053). The Centralia College pitcher has two saves on the season. Capital High School product Eli Fulton leads the league with four saves.
Puget Sound Collegiate League leaders: Hitting
The Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball season is coming down to the wire with just three regular season games left. So let’s take a look at the league leaders. First, the hitters.
The most impressive line this season belongs to Olympia High School and Green River Community College’s Chris Womac of the West Olympia Linx. Womac is tied for third with 24 hits and third in singles with 20, second in walks with 19 and leads the league in on base percentage (.536), OPS (1.031) and batting average (.387). He also leads the league with 14 stolen bases and is tied for first with 17 runs scored.
Saint martin’s Chandler Tracy is continuing his outstanding end to the Saints season in the PSCL. Tracy, a member of the Hawks Prairie Cardinals, is tied for third in hits (24), second in triples (3), first in RBI (16), third in runs scored, fifth in OBP (.427), first in slugging (.536) second in OPS (.963) and second in batting average (.348).
And it’s hard to look past the seasons of Kyle Thomson, Devin Ferguson, Naoki Imoto and may others.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at the pitching leaders…
Thursday scoreboard: Saints hold on and extend league lead
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Lacey Saints 10, Nisqually Silvers 9
After opening up a seven run lead in the first two innings, the Lacey Saints found themselves up 10-5 going into the bottom of the eighth (note: the game went just eight innings). A one out, two run double by Spencer Manjarrez (Oregon State) brought the Nisqually Silvers to within one, 10-9, with men on second and third base. But Derek Voigt (Peru State) struck out the next two batters to secure the win and push the Saints to one full game ahead of the Olympia Athletics for first place in the PSCL.
The Saints opened the game by loading the bases and quickly scored two runs on consecutive fielder’s choices by Devon Ferguson (Centralia College, North Thurston HS) and Dusty Kerns (Bellevue University). In the second inning, the wheels came off the bus for the Silvers and the Saints sent ten batters to the plate and scored five runs on just one hit to take a 7-0 lead.
The Silvers got two runs back in the fourth inning and Zac Smit (Grand View University) drove in one run with a single and Tyler Lundgren (Centralia College) drove in two more in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the lead to just two runs going into the eighth.
In the eighth, the Silvers got the first two outs easily but issued a walk to Tyler Zwosta (Centralia College) and a single to Mario Sanelli (Saint Martin’s). Ferguson then capped off a 3-for-5, four RBI night with a three run home run that ran the Saints lead back to five runs, 10-5, and proved to be the game winning runs.
Zwosta, Sanelli and Ferguson each scored two runs for the Saints while Kerns had two hits, one run and an RBI. Jacob Landeis (Green River CC) got the win and Voigt picked up the save.
Manjarrez led the Silvers by going 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI and Smit and Lundgren each drove in two runs. Ryan Taylor (Olympic College) and Josh DeVaughn (Olympic College) each scored twice in the one run loss.
With just three regular season games left, the Saints drove their record to 12-6, one game ahead of the Olympia A’s and two games ahead of the Hawks Prairie Cardinals and West Olympia Linx. The top two teams get a first round bye in the PSCL tournament next weekend. The Silvers dropped to 4-14 and have now lost seven straight games.
Today (7/19): Saints vs. Silvers
The first place Lacey Saints take on the last place Nisqually Silvers tonight in a Puget Sound Collegiate League makeup game. The Saints are 11-6 in the league portion of play and sit just a half game ahead of the Olympia Athletics. The A’s swept the Tumwater Brewers this week to put themselves into second place with a chance to be tied for first going into the last week of play.
First pitch tonight is scheduled for 5:00 PM.
Wednesday scoreboard: Saints extend lead on Cards, A’s keep pace
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
West Olympia Linx 3, Tumwater Brewers 2
Lacey Saints 3, Hawks Prairie Cardinals 1
Olympia A’s 6, Nisqually Silvers 5
PSCL wraps up weekday series
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Lacey Saints @ Hawks Prairie Cardinals – Saint Martin’s – 5:00 PM
West Olympia Linx @ Tumwater Brewers – The RAC – 5:00 PM
Nisqually Silvers @ Olympia A’s – The RAC – 7:30 PM
Tuesday scoreboard: Cardinals, A’s cut Saints lead to half a game
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Hawks Prairie Cardinals 6, Lacey Saints 2
Olympia Athletics 3, Nisqually Silvers 2
Tumwater Brewers 4, West Olympia Linx 3
Chris McElderry’s (Oklahoma Wesleyan, Yelm HS) two run single and Chandler Tracy’s (Saint Martin’s) two run home run in a five run seventh inning busted the game wide open as the Hawks Prairie Cardinals won their second straight over the first place Lacey Saints, 6-2. McElderry went 3-for-3 and scored two runs along with his two RBI. Cody Evans (Oregon Tech, Yelm HS) had two hits and Connor Huesers (Wenatchee Valley CC) and Conor Cook (Central Washington) each drove in a run for the Cardinals. Shimpie Sato (Skagit Valley College) pitched seven scoreless innings to pick up the win. The Cardinals are now 10-7 in league play while the Saints drop to 10-6 and own just a half game lead over both the Cardinals and Olympia Athletics.
Nikko Saenz (St. Mary’s) went 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI and Bret Grey (Central Washington) and Riley Shintaffer (Centralia College) each had two hits to lead the Olympia Athletics to a 3-2 win over the Nisqually Silvers. Two two teams were tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the seventh when Saenz scored on a wild pitch and Grey drove in Bret Bitow (Saint Martin’s) for the eventual game winning run. Roderick Fields (Green River CC) gave up just one earned run on four hits over seven innings to get the win while Bitow struck out the side in a scoreless ninth to get the save. Brandon Evans (Colorado State-Pueblo), Jordan Falcon (New Mexico Highlands) and Spender Dodd (Saint Martin’s) had six of the Silvers’ seven hits. The win runs the A’s record to 10-7, just a half game behind the Saints.
Today (7/17): All six PSCL teams in action
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Nisqually Silvers @ Olympia Athletics – Saint Martin’s – 5:00 PM
Hawks Prairie Cardinals @ Lacey Saints – The RAC – 5:00 PM
West Olympia Linx @ Tumwater Brewers – The RAC – 7:30 PM
Oly Sports 