Community Sports

Sports Beat | Baseball teams off to hot starts

The Peninsula baseball team (5-0 overall and in Puget Sound League) pulled a victory from the jaws of defeat against Timberline, rallying to win 17-7 in five innings at Sehmel Park on Wednesday, March 25.

The outlook wasn’t so bright for the Seahawks to begin the game. Senior starting senior pitcher John Browand threw 22 balls in his first 33 pitches.

Browand walked four Timberline batters and threw two wild pitches, then surrendered a hit that gave the Blazers a 4-0 lead with one out in the first inning.

Seahawks coach Matt Thomas brought in right-hander Logan Johnson, who got the last two outs of the first inning before the offense took over.

Kaleb Copeland of Peninsula in the batter’s box during the game against Timberline. Photo by Dennis Browne

Bats wake up

Peninsula loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning when Drew Brown (single), Evan Fulghum (walk) and Jett Ortega (error) all reached base. Andy Merry sent a rocket double to right field to score two runs. Merry went 2-4 with four RBI and three runs in the game.

Junior catcher Pete Browand, a second-team All-Nisqually Division performer last year, then tripled to tie the score at 4-4.

That brought up second baseman Kainoa Coit, who was voted first-team All-Nisqually Division last season as a sophomore. He comes from a talented family — his sister Malia belted a home run to help Peninsula win the 2023 state fastpitch championship.

Coit hit a long sacrifice fly to give the Seahawks a 5-4 lead.

“Being down 4-0 was good for us, we needed to be pushed,” Thomas said. “The boys believe we can score runs with anyone in the league. We just went out and played our game and took advantage of some of the things that were given to us and then got some timely hits.”

Defensive excellence

The Seahawks won the West Central District III championship for the second year in a row in 2025 before falling to Eastside Catholic, 1-0, at state. Their hallmark was exceptional defense, and this year’s squad looks similar.

Peninsula allows just 2.4 runs per game this season and flashed some defensive gems on Wednesday. None was bigger than in the top of the fourth inning, with the score still 5-4. The Blazers had a runner on second with no outs.

Seahawks junior shortstop Kaleb Copeland, another first-team all-conference performer last season, leaped to his right to catch a line-drive rocket, then snapped a quick throw to Coit for a crucial double play.

Johnson mixed his pitches well during extended battles with Blazer batters in his 3 2/3 innings of work. He allowed only four hits and one earned run with three strikeouts.

Reliever Cooper Miller contributed a 1-2-3 fifth inning before the umpire ended the game under the 10-run rule. Peninsula averages 15.6 runs per game on the young season.

Junior Thomas Marzano, a first-team All-Nisquallly Division performer last season, leads the Seahawks in five offensive categories: batting average (.571), runs (12), hits (12), RBI (eight) and doubles (three).

Thomas Marzano at the plate during Peninsula’s win over Timberline. Photo by Dennis Browne

“We have come out swinging the bats very well and are getting contributions from several new players to this year’s team and our returning starters from last year,” Thomas said. “We have also played good defense. It’s still a work in progress, but we are getting there.”

The Seahawks beat the Blazers again on March 26 in Lacey, 12-2. They play at Bainbridge at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 28.

Tides hoping to build on last season’s postseason run

The Gig Harbor baseball team reached the state Class 3A semifinals in 2025, a game they led in the seventh inning before losing to Kennewick. The Tides ultimately finished third.

The campaign laid a solid foundation for the Tides under first-year coach Ben Sleeter, whose team was ranked No. 1 for much of the 2025 season.

The Tides lost four first-team All-Narrows Division players from that team to graduation. But Gig Harbor (3-3, 3-1 PSL) still has enough veteran talent and an influx of youth to challenge for another state run.

Shutout over Bellarmine

Ace Quentin Bockhorn, the Narrows Division Pitcher of the Year award in 2025, is back for his senior year. He shut out Bellarmine, 7-0, on March 25 at Sehmel Park.

Bockhorn, a right hander, showed plenty of his usual glove-popping fastballs, falling curveballs and a change-up that had the Lions muttering to themselves on their way back to the dugout.

Bockhorn notched nine strikeouts during a five-inning, three-hit shutout against the Lions.

Quentin Bockhorn threw five shutout innings. Photo by Dennis Browne

His pitching pace was quicker than quick as he received throw backs from catcher Zachary Smith and reloaded like he was playing a video game.

The Tides took a lead in the second inning when freshman Spencer Harthorn introduced himself with an RBI double over the center fielder’s head. Then senior Hunter Payne drove in a run to make the score 2-0.

Sharp defense

The Tides defense was on point all game. Payne, a shortstop, backhanded a sharp two-hopper in the hole and threw a rope to first base for an out in the third inning.

Payne’s play was only slightly outdone an inning later when sophomore third baseman Jason Coray, who leads the team with a .474 batting average, backhanded a ball down the line and fired to first for another impressive out.

The Tides offense added five more runs in the fifth inning. Smith hit a hustling double and scored on a single by Jake Cuda, who went 2-4 on the day. Junior Cam Bentley singled in Cuda, then Harthorn hit his second double on the day to add another run.

Zach Smith slides home during Gig Harbor’s 7-0 win over Bellarmine. Photo by Dennis Browne

Senior Jack Price completed the rally with a single that scored Harthorn, the only freshman on the team.

Senior pitcher Nathan Cheek neatly handled two innings of relief work to close out the game.

The Tides play at Bellarmine at 4 p.m. Friday, March 27 and host West Seattle at Sehmel Park at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 28.