Shorewood needs pitchers to shine

SHORELINE

It’s the same story in the Shorewood baseball camp this season: strong pitching, good speed and an offense that is somewhat of an unknown.

“We don’t have the power we’ve had in the past by any means,” Shorewood coach Wyatt Tonkin said. “We need to manufacture runs here and there. That’s what we’re working on.”

Still, in the season opener against Everett it was the offense that bailed out the Thunderbirds in a 10-9 win. Junior Cole Clerget’s home run in the fifth proved to be a differnce maker.

Still, “our biggest key this year is going to be pitching,” catcher Andrew Giles said. “We’ve tried to focus on pitching the last couple years. We’ve got a pretty strong staff this year, second, third-year varsity players in our starting rotation. As long as I can keep under control out there on the mound and make sure they’re taking care of business.”

The staff ace is junior right-hander Bobby LeCount who also plays third base. Junior Alex Kuniyoshi is the No. 2 starter followed by Clerget. Kuniyoshi and Clerget will play outfield when not pitching.

The relievers include sophomore Harrison Torrance, junior Brandon Ossinger and senior Alex Clement. The T-birds are awaiting the results of an eligibility hearing on senior pitcher/infielder Nick Faust, who played for Blanchet last year.

The batting order starts off with junior shortstop J.K. Dykes followed by LeCount and Giles. Clerget bats cleanup followed by first baseman Derek Schaefer. Kuniyoshi is sixth followed by the junior outfield platoon of Patrick McAree and Scott Anderson.

Center fielder Colin Walker hits eighth followed by junior second baseman Daniel Hammer.

Junior first baseman/designated hitter Geordan Medalia shores up the lineup.

Shorewood hopes to make the playoffs this year after falling short after a loss to Mountlake Terrace in play-in game last season.

“That was a big disappointment,” LeCount said. “I wanted to go to the playoffs so bad my sophomore year. Pieces didn’t fall where we wanted them to. We got caught up in a bad situation. Mountlake Terrace executed in what had to do. They just beat us.”

The T-birds prepared in the offseason to hit the ground running this year, Giles said.

“This year we’ve got the experience under our belt and really everybody knows what it takes to play at this level,” Giles said.

Jackson, Edmonds-Woodway, Meadowdale and Mountlake Terrace are among the contenders in the Western Conference South Division this year.

Three new volunteer coaches joined Tonkin’s staff this year: Shorewood grads Chad Boudon and Chris Todd are helping out as well as Tyler Wilkinson, who played at George Fox University.