The undefeated Peninsula Seahawks got their toughest test of the season Monday as the North Thurston baseball team had them on the ropes before a walk-off single gave Peninsula a 5-4 victory in Gig Harbor.
Peninsula, which hadn’t seen a final verdict smaller than five runs until Monday, scored one run in each of the first two innings off of Rams starting pitcher Ethan Shaefer, who left two Seahawks stranded on base in the second. Robbie Tweed’s RBI groundout put North Thurston on the board in the top of the second inning.
The Seahawks added to their lead with a run in the fourth and another in the fifth. North Thurston came alive in the sixth inning, scoring two runs without needing a hit. The Rams used three walks, a hit batter, a sacrifice by Tweed and a fielder’s choice for Zachary Albright to cut the three-run margin down to just one.
Relief pitcher Kole French, who allowed a single and a walk in the bottom of the sixth, slammed the door and kept North Thurston’s comeback hopes alive, securing the final two outs via flyout.
In the seventh, Grady Wright led off with a double, and he scored the tying run on David Perez’s single down the first-base line. But with the bases loaded and one out, Tweed’s attempt to add to his two-RBI day came up short as he grounded into a double play.
Wright took the bump in the bottom of the seventh, earning the first out before allowing a double and intentionally walking the next two batters to bring up Evan Fulgham, who entered the at-bat 0 for 3. Fulgham whacked the ball past the diving French at shortstop for the walk-off single.
“Our kids played really hard, and I am proud of the way we battled back,” North Thurston head coach Joe Meggs said. “Ethan Shaefer did a great job for us and put us in a position to win the game. The bottom part of our order had great at-bats all game. We were one big hit away from winning the game. Credit to Peninsula for executing when they needed to.”
Shaefer pitched five innings and struck out four batters while allowing four runs on six hits and two walks, with two of those allowed runs unearned.
North Thurston (5-4, 3-4 Puget Sound League) will get another chance to topple Peninsula (7-0, 6-0 Puget Sound League) Tuesday at home.
