Two of the hottest baseball teams in the Western Conference South Division hooked up last week and when it was over, Jackson and Shorewood each had reasons to be encouraged.
The Thunderbirds prevailed 11-4 in the first game on April 8 and the Timberwolves responded with 10-4 decision on April 10. Jackson (6-2 in the league, 8-2 overall) finished the week tied for first place with surprising Lynnwood, while Shorewood (5-3) was on the heels of both teams.
The Thunderbirds came into Friday’s game on a four-game winning streak but coach Wyatt Tonkin could also sense right away that his team wasn’t focused.
“I could feel it when we walked out there for some reason,” he said. “We just didn’t have the same intensity we had the previous game. I don’t know why.”
Jackson coach Kirk Nicholson credited the win to starting pitching Nick Kiel, who allowed only two hits in five innings of work.
“He did a nice job of keeping the ball down,” Nicholson said. “He got a lot of ground ball outs. He did a nice job of keeping a good team under control.”
Kiel joined senior pitcher Jordan Kellington with 3-0 records for the season.
“I’m really happy with my pitching,” Nicholson said. “They (Kiel and Kellington) are both throwing really well.”
The same couldn’t be said of four Thunderbird pitchers, who combined to throw eight walks and a slew of wild pitches. Six of the Jackson hitters that walked eventually scored.
Tonkin told his pitchers that there wasn’t anyway they can field the ball when they are walking batters. He also talked about damage control, which Shorewood didn’t practice much of.
“If you are going to walk guys, we want to keep damage control to a minimum,” Tonkin said. “We don’t want to wild pitch guys into scoring position. We did that three or four times.”
At the plate, the Thunderbirds were a little too eager and Tonkin suggested that they change their approach with men on base.
“We were trying to catch up with one swing,” Tonkin said. “We kind of shut ourselves down a little bit. We left a lot of men on base.”
Shorewood had the bases loaded in the third inning but came away without any runs.
The big inning for the Timberwolves was the fifth when they pushed across five runs. Miles Brown hit a two-out single to drive in two runs.
Tonkin added that Jackson is good team and then told the players to get prepared for this week’s two-game series against Shorecrest.
“I think the kids are refocused and ready to play,” Tonkin said.
Nicholson was more than happy to earn a split with what he called a good team. He also was pleased to be tied for first place with a team that only had two seniors.
“We’re learning on the job. We started the year with a couple of freshmen and four sophomores,” Nicholson said. “I feel really good about starting off like this. I’m really happy with where we’re at.”
The Jackson offense has produced most of its runs with timely hitting and doing the little things.
“It’s more hitting situations,” Nicholson said. “Move a runner over. We’re not really a team that is going hit a lot of long balls. We’re doing other things — hitting the ball other way, going from second to third. We’re working really hard at it. Guys are accepting their roles and doing a really good job.”
In Wednesday’s game, Shorewood’s hitters made the most of its six hits by producing 11 runs.
Bobby LeCount hit a home run in the first inning and the Thunderbirds followed up with four runs in the third inning and added at least a run in each of the next four innings.
“We had good production up and down the lineup,” Tonkin said. “‘We had good patience. We ran the bases well, which has kind of been our weak spot. We went the other way pretty good. We had outstanding pitching from our young sophomore, which was really good to see.”
Kevin Moriarty, who improved to 2-0, allowed three runs in six innings of work.
“He had a good fastball. He had pretty good movement,” Tonkin said. “He had a good curveball. He worked both sides of the plate.”
LeCount was doing so well at the plate that Tonkin moved him from the No. 3 slot up to the leadoff spot. His on-base percentage is .650. Everyone was pitching around him so Tonkin figured the best place to hit him was at the top of the lineup.
“Bobby has a lot of power. He’s a good athlete,” Tonkin said. “He runs the bases well. (The move) was beneficial. … I’m going to leave Bobby there for a while.”
LeCount also is the closer for the Thunderbirds, but he will start some games later in he season.
“He has too good of a quality arm to have him throwing just one inning,” Tonkin said.
Much of the regular season remains to be play, but both Jackson and Shorewood would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. Defending champion and preseason favorite Mountlake Terrace would not.
“The guys that win the league could have four or five losses,” Nicholson said. “It’s going to be very competitive.”
Nicholson sees four or five teams in the 4A playoff mix with Jackson definitely in the hunt for the league title. Shorewood figures to be in the mix too.
“We have a talented group of kids,” Tonkin said. “We’ve got some tremendous senior leadership.”
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