Pirates fall behind early, get nipped by Kitsap
Moses Lake Pirates catcher Justin Byrd tried to get the offense going with this second inning at-bat last night at Larson Field. The Pirates fell behind big early and were unable to make up enough ground in an 8-5 loss. The two teams play again tonight in the series rubber match.
MOSES LAKE — After securing their first mini winning streak of the season — two games — the Moses Lake Pirates aimed to keep their momentum going last night against the Kitsap BlueJackets at Larson Field.
MOSES LAKE — After securing their first mini winning streak of the season — two games — the Moses Lake Pirates aimed to keep their momentum going last night against the Kitsap BlueJackets at Larson Field.
The second of three games between the two West Coast League (WCL) teams was once again an offensive display but this time the visitors from the west side of the state came out on top with an 8-5 win in front of 643 spectators.
The Pirates (7-13 overall, 6-11 in WCL) will now try to win their second series of the season in tonight’s rubber game when the two teams meet up at 7:35 p.m.
For the second straight game, the Pirates saw one of their better starters, Leo Rosetti (Pomona College), struggle on the mound, and have to rely on an improving offense.
However, unlike their 9-6 win on Tuesday night, Moses Lake couldn’t overcome the BlueJackets’ offense in dropping the contest.
“Hats off to Kitsap, they swung the bat well and they’ve done what we’ve done well and that’s the two out runs,” Moses Lake head coach Steve Keller said. “If you leave the ball up they’ll make you pay no matter who is up in their lineup.
Rosetti (1-2, 3.34 ERA) gave up seven runs in six innings, giving up 11 hits while striking out five.
“I thought Leo competed really well and did a good job getting outs and one and two but struggled to get that third out,” Keller said. “He faced some high quality hitters.
Kitsap took a 2-0 lead after their first at bat but the Pirates cut the deficit in half when Austin Shackelford (University of Utah) singled and Duncan Blades (Salt Lake CC) did the same to put two runners on with no outs.
One out later Trent Johnson (University of Utah) singled to bring in Shackelford and cut the gap to 2-1.
Kitsap scored again in their half of the third, bringing in one run and then built their lead to 6-1 with a three-run fifth inning.
The Pirates got one run back in the bottom half of the frame when Shackelford rapped out a two-out single and scored after stealing second and third bases and crossing home plate on a throwing error in his second swipe attempt to make the score 6-2.
“He’s been doing that all year long and he knows himself and his speed very well,” Keller said. “He just tried to spur something on for us. I really like watching that kid play.”
They then put two more runs up on the board in the six inning to bump their lead up to 8-2 but Moses Lake wouldn’t go away without a fight.
The Pirates scored three times in the bottom of the sixth inning to trim the Kitsap lead to 8-5.
Johnson and Bryan Karwacki (Big Bend CC) both singled to lead off the inning and Nate Roberts (Whitworth University) singled home both runners to make it 8-4.
Bryndon Ecklund (Seattle University) then singled to put two runners on again with no outs and one batter later, Andrew Rodriguez (San Jose State University) singled in Roberts and Moses Lake was down three.
However, with one out and two on the Pirates failed to bring any more runs across as Kitsap managed to get the final two outs.
Shackelford continued his hot hitting by going 3-for-5 at the plate, and Johnson went 3-for-4 to lead the 14 hit Pirates attack.
Roberts also recorded three hits while Blades, Karwacki, Ecklund, Rodriguez, and Tylor Pavel (Wenatchee Valley College) all added a hit apiece.
“We outhit them by three and had some quality hits but we didn’t bunt the ball real well,” Keller said. “In baseball situations we had to be on our best game and we weren’t tonight. We had a lot of runners on base (nine) and we couldn’t get that extra hit.”
NOTES: Starting for Moses Lake tonight will be Scott Birdwell (Vanguard University)...Tonight is “Facebook Fan Night.” A Facebook Fan of the Pirates will be chosen to throw out the first pitch.
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