POULSBO — Whether it was rain or the Shorecrest Scots that threatened the game Wednesday afternoon, the North Kitsap Vikings were just happy to complete it.
The Vikings had already had one game postponed, and Wednesday’s contest with Shorecrest was threatened by ominous skies and an inning-long drizzle.
So despite the four-run seventh that let the Scots (1-0) wrestle the lead from the Vikings and win the game 6-4, head coach Steve Frease was just happy to see his team finally take the field.
“We got a game in,” Frease said. “That’s good.”
Frease’s Vikings (0-1) grabbed a brief lead in the first inning when leadoff man Patrick Gilbert rapped a single and scored on Jacob Freiboth’s RBI single.
Shorecrest grabbed that lead back in the second with an RBI single by A.J. Collins and an RBI groundout by Tim Workman.
The two teams then dueled through three scoreless innings. The Vikings used several pitchers (eventually they would send five to the mound), not wanting to tax anyone in the still-early season, while the Scots leaned on starter Derek Dupree.
The Vikings mounted a sixth-inning comeback as Chris Carlsen, who started the game on the mound, hit a double that kissed the right-field line and bounced into the outfield. Jacob Freiboth followed with a walk, and Quinn Mouser tied the game by lacing a single into the outfield off new pitcher Danny Sullivan.
After Mouser tied the game at two, Curtis Toyne gave the Vikings the lead when he poked the ball into the infield, then sprinted his way aboard after a Scots infielder erred and threw the ball wide of the first baseman.
The Vikings lead was 3-2, but it proved fragile in the next inning as the Scots brought four runners home.
Dupree and Garrett Flowers knocked back-to-back singles, each for a RBI, to give Shoreline a 4-3 lead; an infield hit and an errant pickoff throw to third allowed runs five and six to score.
The Vikings, down 6-3 in the bottom of the final frame, brought one run home when Dan Pack singled and scored Peder Rauen, who had singled to open the inning.
But the rally fell short, and the Vikings opened the season with a loss.
Frease was happy at the team’s aggressiveness at the plate and at the solid job done by the pitchers, who included Carlsen, Kyle Howe (who pitched two scoreless innings), Danny Purser (one scoreless inning), Curtis Toyne, and Jordan Stout.
“We just needed a ball to drop here or there,” Frease said, “and we would have tied them.”
With his youngest Viking team in years, Frease knows there is some building to do. But if Wednesday is any indication, there are plenty of building blocks.
“We’re a green team,” Frease said. “We’ll get better.”
NOTES: The Viking junior varsity gained a 7-6 win over Shorecrest.
Shorecrest 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 – 6 11 1
North Kitsap 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 – 4 8 4
Derek Dupree, Danny Sullivan (6), Brian Gregory (7) and Tim Workman; Chris Carlsen, Kyle Howe (3), Danny Purser (4), Curtis Toyne (5), Jordan Stout (7) and Anthony Zuvela. WP: Sullivan (1-0), LP: Toyne (0-1). Leading hitters, Shorecrest: Derek Dupree 2-4 (1 RBI), A.J. Collins 2-3 (1 RBI); North Kitsap: Patrick Gilbert 2-4, run, Quinn Mouser 2-4, RBI single, Chris Carlsen 1-4, 2B.
