Area Sports by Michael Dashiell

The weather still may be bitter cold, but Sequim's bats are heating up - and none too soon.

The Wolves pounded 1A powerhouse Chimacum 10-0 Saturday afternoon for their first win of the young season, their second and final warm-up before a three-game road stretch against tough Olympic League foes this week.

Sequim (1-1) batted around for eight runs in the fourth inning and tacked on a pair in the bottom of the fifth for a mercy rule-shortened win to top the previously undefeated Cowboys (2-1).

"We were due," said Sequim coach Dave Ditlefsen. "We have enough good bats in the lineup to break out."

Just two days after getting stymied by Bainbridge pitching, it looked like Sequim might have another tough outing against Cowboy freshman Quinn Eldridge, who held the Wolves in check for three solid innings. But a ringing, ground-rule double by Sequim senior Jason Baker sparked a rally in the fourth. Drew Rickerson and Jeremie Oliver followed with RBI singles for a 2-0 lead, and after Reed Omdal drew a walk Isaac Yamamoto drilled a two-run single. Batting for the second time in the inning, Baker raked a sharp single to left to score Yamamoto, and Rickerson knocked two more runs home to cap the barrage.

Yamamoto and Alex Gillis drew a pair of run-scoring walks an inning later for the winning runs.

On the mound, Spencer Middleton looked sharp in four innings of ball, allowing no hits and striking out four Cowboys.

"(Spencer) has always been tough especially when he throws strikes," Ditlefsen said.

The Sequim High senior said he felt good on the mound in his first out of 2009.

"I felt strong; my arm feels good," Middleton said. "Every time we've played (Chimacum) they're a tough team. It feels good to beat them."

Kris Goss threw a scoreless fifth, getting out of a bases loaded jam when a Chimacum player was called for interference with a Sequim infielder.

The win helps erase a tough 4-1 loss to Bainbridge two days earlier, the season-opener for both squads.

The Spartans pushed across all of their runs in the first two innings and held on for a 4-1 win March 19.

Baker and Matt Holloway had two hits each while Reed Omdal drove in the lone Sequim run. Oliver took the loss on the mound.

Spartan Colin Feldtman had a double, triple, RBI and struck out eight Sequim batters in three-plus innings of work.

Sequim was slated to open league play at North Kitsap in Poulsbo on March 23 - results were unavailable for this edition at press time (see sequimgazette.com/sports for results). Sequim is in Silverdale the rest of the week, taking on Olympic March 25 and Klahowya on March 27. The Wolves' next home date is April 9 against Port Angeles.



Reach Michael Dashiell at miked@sequimgazette.com.