North Kitsap splits first two games in district tournament

EAST BREMERTON — The Vikings went 1-1 in their district tournament openers, knocking off Franklin Pierce, 14-4, but losing to River Ridge, 10-9.

The Vikings were hoping to get by Franklin Pierce without using one of their top arms, but Logan Chmielewski came on in the second inning to stabilize things as the Cardinals scored four runs.

Chmielewski struck out six batters in 4 2/3 innings and North Kitsap picked up five runs over the next three innings before exploding for an eight-run sixth.

Chris Schuchart went 3 for 4 at the plate with two doubles and two RBI and Tucker Gowin clubbed a double and three-run homer to pace the offense.

Jared Reister brought home the Vikings’ first run of the game with an RBI-single in the third and Isaac Richardson followed with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 4-2.

In the fourth, Chmielewski helped his own cause by driving home Josh Fisher, who had walked and stolen second with two outs, narrowing the lead to one run.

North Kitsap went ahead in the fifth, but lost their ace for the next game. Richardson singled home Reister to tie the game and then stole second. Schuchart doubled to left-center and Richardson ran over the Franklin Pierce catcher at the plate. He was called out and then ejected for the contact.

Schuchart ended up scoring on a passed ball to put the Vikings ahead.

North Kitsap trailed River Ridge 6-1 after the first inning, but rallied to tie the game at 7 in the fourth on Colton Bower’s RBI-double. The Hawks added one more run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.

Bower doubled again in the seventh to cut the lead to 10-8 and another run came in on a fielder’s choice, but a subsequent force out ended the game.

North Kitsap will play Eatonville at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Fairgrounds, needing to win two games to reach the 2A state tournament.

North Kitsap 14, Franklin Pierce 4

FP 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 — 4 7 3

NK 0 0 2 1 2 8 x — 14 15 1

WP: Chmielewski LP: Hu. Hall

Pitching

Franklin Pierce — Hu. Hall 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB; Ha. Hall .1 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 8 ER, BB; Brault .2 IP, H, 2 BB.

North Kitsap — Brockett 1.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, BB, K; Chmielewski 4.2 IP, 2 H, BB, 6 K; King IP, BB.

Hitting

Franklin Pierce — Peters 1-4, 2 RBI; Patton 1-3, RBI, R; Hu. Hall 1-3, 2B, R; Estep 2-3, R.

North Kitsap — Schuchart 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R; Gowin 2-3, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB, R; Reister 2-3, RBI, 3 R, BB, 2 SB; Richardson 1-3, 2 RBI, SB; Green 1-4, RBI, R; Alexander 1-2, RBI, R; Chmielewski 2-3, RBI, R, SB; Schmidt 1-2, 2 R; Bower 1-4, R; Fisher 1-3, BB, R, SB.

Klahowya knocks off Charles Wright Academy in 1A district tournament

The Eagles beat the Tarriers 2-0 in University Place on Saturday. Tanyr Gagnon pitched six innings and struck out nine, picking up the win. James Lawson struck out a pair of hitters in the seventh to earn the save.

Jacob Manavie went 3 for 3 and drove in a run.

Klahowya will take on Bellevue Christian at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Foss High School.

South Kitsap opens 4A tournament against Tahoma

The Wolves kick off their playoff run at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Auburn High School against Tahoma, the No. 2 team from the NPSL. If South Kitsap wins, the team will automatically qualify for the 4A state tournament and play two games on Saturday, May 11 for seeding.