By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
TACOMA – It took a near-superhuman effort to end the Edmonds-Woodway baseball team’s season Saturday.
South Kitsap third baseman Travis Vetters supplied it.
Vetters had three hits, knocked in both Wolves’ runs and made an eye-popping defensive play late in the game to save a run, leading second-ranked South Kitsap to a 2-1 victory against the Warriors in the first round of the West Central regional tournament at Heidelberg Park.
“He’s been doing it all year for us,” Wolves coach Elton Goodwin said. “That was a great effort from a great athlete.”
The Wolves (19-3) advanced to the regional final on the strength of RBI singles by Vetters. But it was a sixth-inning play that denied Edmonds-Woodway a possible tying run that was most impressive.
Behind 2-1 in the top of the sixth, Warriors shortstop Chris Minaker led off with a triple. The next hitter, right fielder Travis Torgerson, laced a screaming ground ball to Vetters. Vetters scooped up the ball and dove to tag out Minaker, who’d wandered too far off third base. Then, Vetters scrambled to his feet and uncorked a bullet to first baseman Josh Meeker just in time to double up Torgerson.
Vetters’ play prevented a tie game because the Warriors’ next hitter, second baseman Justin Hill, singled to right. But he was left stranded when Ian Gac grounded out to end the inning.
“They made the plays when they needed them,” said Edmonds-Woodway coach Joe Webster, whose team ended the season 17-8 overall.
The game was a magnificent pitching duel between Knox and E-W pitcher Ryan McCulloch. Knox allowed four hits, struck out four and walked one, while McCulloch allowed five hits, struck out six and walked two.
McCulloch’s undoing, however, was that he let the Wolves’ leadoff hitter get on base in each of the first four innings.
In the first and the third innings, it cost him. He began the game by walking Tyler Mansfield, who eventually came around to score on a Vetters bloop single to right.
McCulloch led off the third by hitting Mansfield, who later scored on a sharp single to left by Vetters that broke a 1-1 tie.
“That was Ryan’s bugaboo,” Webster said. “That was the difference, but he threw a hell of a game. I told him that. You can’t expect a guy to go out and throw a shutout. You’ve got to score more than one darn run.”
McCulloch worked himself out of a fifth-inning jam. With Wolves on second and third and two out, McCulloch struck out Josh Showers for the third time in the game with a wicked 3-2 curveball.
The Warriors tied it in the third inning on some sloppy play by the Wolves. Minaker singled to left, advanced on a wild pickoff throw by Knox and went to third on a ground ball.
Minaker scored on a bizarre play when Knox took his windup, but held the ball as he was about to throw to the plate because he saw catcher Andy Sund rise for a pitchout.
McCulloch and Waite. Knox and Sund. WP-Knox. LP-McCulloch. 3B-Minaker (E-W). Records-SK 19-3 overall, E-W 17-8.
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