The Pirates lost a heartbreaker on Saturday (5/12) to the Wolverines of Friday Harbor 2-1. The loss eliminated the team from the District playoffs. This was a classic pitchers duel. The Wolverines scored a run in the first on a error, a bunt, a fielder's choice, and a sac fly. The Pirates answered with one in the fourth on a Max Bean single, a base on balls, a fielder's choice, and a ground out. So the score was knotted at one going into the bottom of the seventh inning when Friday Harbor took advantage of a couple of Pirate miscues and some fortunate bounces of the ball to score the winning run. After a one-out single, a walk, and a wild pitch, the Wolverines had runners on second and third. The next batter attempted a squeeze bunt but the runner was out at the plate on a great block by catcher Tom Schumaker. There were now two outs with the winning run on second and the No. 9 hitter coming up. However, against the odds, he calmly laced the first pitch over the outreached glove of first baseman Lester Gannaw and into right field for the winning hit. Pirate senior Eric Anderson turned in a solid performance on the mound scattering six hits over seven innings and walking only two batters. Unfortunately, as has been the case all too often this year, the Vashon bats were once again cold and unproductive. The Pirates had a total of three hits. Bean had two singles and Tom Schumaker added an infield chopper.The game was played at Cascade Christian HS and was one of three games played to determine the fourth and final seed from the District to advance to State. Orting defeated Cedar Park Christian in the early game 6-4 and they would win again in the finale by beating Friday Harbor 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh. Thus the four teams advancing to State are Chimacum, Bellevue Christian, Nooksack Valley and Orting. So, another Pirate baseball season has come to an end. The team finished third in the Nisqually league with a 8-3 record. They were 1-1 in the District playoffs and 11-9 for the entire season. It was a good year. And building upon the accomplishments of this season, the coaching staff and team has much loftier goals for 2008.
