Four starters have returned on a Shoreline Community College baseball team that already has won more league games than it did all last year.
The Dolphins swept Olympic in a four-game series to open Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges play March 31-April 1.
Shoreline is 4-0 in the NWAACC North Division and 8-10 overall this season, under second-year head coach Steve Seki. The Dolphins went 3-20 in the NWAACC last year and 5-35 overall.
Leading the returning players is sophomore third baseman Tyler Fiske, who has swung a hot bat this spring and occupies the third spot in the batting order. Fiske, who hit only .250 last year, went 9-for-14 during a tournament in Phoenix in March, Seki said.
The entire starting outfield returns for the Dolphins. Sophomore left fielder Justin Goo bats second, right fielder Tyler Starkel bats fifth and centerfielder Ryan Gorle also will see time in the lineup.
Sophomore Cheynne Hirota bats sixth and plays first base and some third.
Freshman Erik Church, who Seki said has a knack for seeing pitches and working the count, leads off and plays center field.
Freshman Blake Vigoren, out of Everett’s Cascade High School, will bat cleanup and is a solid defensive catcher. Seki said Vigoren’s a tough player who has been hit by pitches about 10 times this year.
Freshmen Paul Domingo and Kaden Donovan back up Vigoren at catcher and also provide some offense.
Freshman Marcus Miyashiro and Teddy Atterbury both will see time at second base while freshman Adam Hammer, a Shorewood graduate, plays shortstop.
“Our lineup will vary depending on whether we’re seeing a righty or lefty,” Seki said. “We do have some flexibility in our lineup this year.”
The bottom of the lineup is much stronger and the team has better speed, Seki said.
“In this league you’ve got to manufacture runs,” he said
The Dolphins return a strong pitching staff led by sophomore right-hander Justin Weckhorst, a 6-foot, 1-inch, 175-pounder. He was a hard-luck loser in close games last season. Weckhorst, whose earned run average was in the threes, “kept us in every single game he threw last year,” Seki said.
No. 2 starter, sophomore righty Derek Cherin (6-2, 200), had an ERA in the twos last year and also didn’t get run support. Sophomore righty Brock Roper (6-1, 180), sophomore righty Garret Atkinson (6-4, 200, Meadowdale) and sophomore lefty Justin Kekaualua (5-10, 160), the No. 2 starter last year, round out the starting staff. Kekaualua has had some arm difficulties so Seki said his lone lefty starter will be brought along slowly this season.
In the bullpen the Dolphins have left handers Logan Lewis (6-3, 225) and Braden Edwards (5-11, 170, Everett), to go along with freshman right handers Phil Hackney (6-1, 225) and Nicky Jamison (6-2, 210).
The Dolphins will close by committee, Seki said.
“I think our pitching is going to carry us,” he said. “We’ve got experienced kids throwing for us. They’re confident.”
The North Division should be tough as usual with Everett Community College and Skagit Valley College the teams to beat, Seki said. Edmonds should be solid, while elsewhere in the league Bellevue is expected to be good and Douglas is much improved, Seki said.
“It’s going to be a fun league. There’s no teams you can overlook,” Seki said.
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