The Pirate baseball team lost 8-3 to the Kalama Chinooks at the Castle Rock regional tournament on Saturday (5/17) , ending their bid for a state finals appearance.Seniors playing their final game for the Pirates included Micah Deibell, Tom Schumaker, Justin Calhoun, Nathan Ott, Adam Powelson and Chris Allman.
Deibell started on the mound for Vashon and pitched a nice game, but the defense did not fare as well. The first of five Pirate errors allowed the Chinooks to take an early 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Deibell helped himself out in the second by reaching base on a single. Sophomore Joe Gilmour, who was 2 for 3 as a designated hitter, later brought him in to tie the score.
The Pirates struck again in the third with sophomore Matt Amick leading off with a hard-hit single to left field. After stealing second, he was brought the rest of the way home by Calhoun's single. But the Pirates left two additional runners stranded.
Things started to fall apart for the Pirates in the fourth when back-to-back singles put Chinook runners on first and second with only one out. Coach Hall then brought in junior Chris Pieterick in relief. A wild pitch, followed by a Pirate fielding error, loaded the bases with only one out. By the end of the inning, the Chinooks had scored 4 runs on only 3 hits to take a 5-2 lead.
The Pirates looked to score again when Schumaker slammed a 3-2 pitch deep to left in the 5th. It was caught at the fence. Calhoun reached base on a single but was left stranded after stealing second.
Sophomore Wes Paulson relieved Pieterick in the sixth. After a Kalama runner reached base on another Pirate error, Paulson picked him off with a nice move to the bag. He retired the remaining two batters to give the Pirates one last chance.
The Pirates had two runners on base on walks when Calhoun sacrificed to deep center. But that one run was the only additional scoring the Pirates would muster in the loss.
On the bright side, defensively, Allman made a nice catch in center to snuff out a possible rally in the third inning.
The final line score: Kalama/ Runs: 8 Hits: 8 Errors: 1 Vashon/ Runs: 3 Hits: 7 Errors: 5
Although it's small consolation for Vashon, Kalama did make it to the championship game and ended up finishing second.
