Sports

Sports Beat: Gig Harbor rallies past Peninsula, stays unbeaten in soccer

Gig Harbor stormed back from an early two-goal deficit to beat Peninsula, 3-2, on Thursday, April 6.

The Tides (9-0, 7-0 South Sound Conference) are ranked No. 1 in the state by sports website MaxPreps and No. 2 in WIAA’s RPI rankings. They outscored their previous opponents 42-5 on the year, but the defending SSC champion Seahawks (3-5, 2-5) didn’t seem fazed.

The Seahawks scored early goals on two corner kicks to unmarked players.

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“With crosstown rivals it doesn’t matter if one team is undefeated and the other has lost every game,” Gig Harbor coach Joe Ross said. “With the increased meaning and all the local fans here, it changes the complexity of the game. Peninsula came out strong and were tenacious, they put us on our heels early.”

The Gig Harbor soccer team rallied for a 3-2 win over Peninsula.

Gig Harbor found more space after changing formation at halftime.

Owen Gent sent a long pass to Johnson, who headed back it over to striker Matt Ludlow. Ludlow fired a first touch, left-footed shot low and into the corner for the tying goal.

Johnson was involved in the final goal as well. He sent a high-arching corner kick to Caleb Gilbert who leaped high in the air to head the ball in the net and take a 3-2 lead.

The Seahawks narrowly missed a few shots to tie before the whistle blew to end the game, sending the Tides players sprinting to their fans to celebrate.

The rematch will be May 2 at Roy Anderson Field.

Sweep puts Gig Harbor baseball in league lead

The Gig Harbor baseball team vaulted its way to the top of the South Sound Conference standings with a two-game sweep of second-place Central Kitsap.

The sweep started with a come-from-behind, 4-3 Tides win on April 3 at Sehmel Homestead Park.

Senior Derrick Cosmos was effective on the hill for Gig Harbor (5-2, 5-1), leaving in the fifth inning with a 2-1 lead. But the Cougars claimed a 3-2 lead following a Gig Harbor error and a wild pitch.

Gig Harbor junior Josh Dunham tripled to the warning track to drive in  Wesley Bonnici, who had singled earlier, and tie the game. A subsequent wild pitch put the Tides back on top, 4-3.

The Tides brought in 6-foot-4, 215-pound closer Ryland Heckman for the seventh inning, and he struck out his first two hitters. He walked the third Cougar batter, who then stole second.

The game ended when the same Cougar tried to steal third and Gig Harbor catcher Nick Lang threw him out.

The Tides followed that with a 7-3 win over CK in Silverdale on Tuesday, April 4.

Gig Harbor tennis sweeps Peninsula

Gig Harbor girls tennis swept Peninsula 5-0 on Monday, April 3.

The Tides’ (11-1, 11-0) first singles player Lindsey Muske overwhelmed Peninsula’s ace Ashley Hall, 6-4, 6-1. The aggressive Muske used her consistent serve to force short returns and then played “first strike” tennis by going for immediate cross-court winners.

At second singles, Gig Harbor’s Alexa Lavinder used her foot speed and a sharp two handed backhand to beat McKenna Baurichter 6-2, 6-1.

Gig Harbor No. singles player Lyndsey Muske chases down a return against Peninsula. Photo by Bryce Carithers.

Also

• The Gig Harbor girls dance team H2WHOA took home second place at the state championships in Yakima with their vibrant “Snatched” routine. Their second-place finish in the hip hop category comes after a state championship in 2022.
• The Peninsula Seahawk (4-2, 3-1) lacrosse team beat Gig Harbor 13-10 on March 31 at Roy Anderson Field. Peninsula is in second place in the Puget/Pierce 3A league and will be back in action on the road versus Stadium on April 19.
• The Riptides girls lacrosse team is 3-2-1 and 2-0 in league after falling to Eastlake 17-9 on April 5. Riptides players attend both Gig Harbor and Peninsula. The team won a league title last year. Their next home game is at 5 p.m. April 18th against Stadium.
• The Gig Harbor (9-1, 9-0) girls water polo team is perfect in Divison 2 play. Their only loss was a 19-6 nonleague game against defending Division 1 state champion Curtis. Frances Benson and Alexis Tujo are supplying most of the offense for the Tides according to coach Mike Kelly, with Isabella Puccio, Delaney Moyer and Zoey Nichols playing key roles in the Tides success.
• The Gig Harbor girls golf team is 2-0 in SSC play after wins over Yelm and River Ridge for first year coach Jeffery Milbourn. The Tides have four of the top 10 scorers in conference play, led by Carly Ikei, who has a low score of 37 at Madrona Links this season. She is followed by two freshmen in Sofia Skogen, with a low score of 42, and Laila Douglas with a 46. Senior Sam Campeau has fired a 49 and Sarah Ehler’s 50 round out the top five for the Tides.

The H2WHOA dance team from Gig HArbor finished second in the state in the hip-hop dance category.