Community Sports
Sports Beat | Bockhorn, Tides shut out Peninsula
The baseball showdown between Gig Harbor (20-1, 15-1 Puget Sound League Narrows Division) and Peninsula (13-6, 12-4 Nisqually Division) was supposed to be a nail biter, decided in the bottom of the seventh inning in some heroic fashion. Instead it turned out to be a showcase for Tides pitcher Quentin Bockhorn, who led his team to a 5-0 win at Sehmel Park on April 25.
Bockhorn has been lights out this season. Against Peninsula, he proved to be the best pitcher in town.
Bockhorn fired a complete-game, five-hit shutout to lower his earned run average to .027, the second lowest among pitchers in the state’s 3A classification.
Gig Harbor pitcher Quentin Bockhorn during the Tides’ 5-0 win over Peninsula. Photo by Ed Johnson
The Tides got on the board in the fifth inning, when centerfielder Daniel Porras tripled off Peninsula’s Pete Browand to score shortstop Jayce Corley, who had walked. Senior first baseman Ethan Mar, who leads the Tides with a .432 batting average, then singled in Porras.
Meanwhile Bockhorn was steady and consistent on the mound. He mixed fastballs with big-breaking curve balls to keep the Seahawks off balance. Bockhorn struck out four Seahawks and walked only one in seven innings.
Jayce Corley of Gig Harbor scores during the Tides’ 5-0 win over Peninsula. Photo by Ed Johnson
Seahawks starter Pete Browand went six innings and struck out three while walking five. His brother John Browand replaced him on the mound in the seventh inning.
Gig Harbor added insurance runs in the top of the seventh, when the Tides sent eight batters to the plate and scored three times. Mar drove in one and senior right fielder Cole Krilich two during the seventh-inning rally.
Bockhorn closed it out in the bottom of the seventh to seal the Narrows Division title for the Tides and first-year coach Ben Sleeter.
Gig Harbor first baseman Ethan Mar stretches to make a catch. Photo by Ed Johnson
“Our team chemistry is on another level and I give a lot of credit to our head coach,” Bockhorn said. “We’re always having a good time but when we have to play we know how to flip the switch and go play.”
Krilich, hitting .415 on the season, was happy with the win. “Beating Peninsula is always fun, as a senior who has played with and against the kids on the other team since Little League, it’s really a great feeling.”
Cheney Stadium games next
Gig Harbor continued its winning ways with a 7-0 win over Capital and a 7-1 win over Timberline. They close out their regular season with a non-league game against Fife (11-7) at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.
Peninsula finished league play with shutout wins over Silas (6-0) and Central Kitsap (3-0). They tied for the Nisqually Division lead with North Thurston, which won the title by sweeping the Seahawks in two games earlier in the season.
Peninsula plays a non-league game against Curtis (13-6) at 7 p.m. Friday, May 2, at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.
The Puget Sound League championship tournament begins next week.
Matthew Saunders of Peninsula makes a running catch in the outfield against Gig Harbor. Photo by Ed Johnson
Gig Harbor wins Baggataway Bowl
Gig Harbor won the Baggataway Bowl for the second straight year on April 30, defeating Peninsula 12-9 in the annual boys lacrosse game at Roy Anderson Field.
Baggataway is a Ojibwe word for an early version of lacrosse, which was considered a “Creators Game” by natives who played the game with great ritual.
Some think of lacrosse as a newer game, but it’s actually a centuries-old sport originally played by indigenous North American tribes. It may have even inspired basketball. Dr. James Naismith, a physical education director, incorporated many elements of lacrosse into the game he invented while looking for an indoor sport during a cold Kansas winter in 1891.
In the 2025 Baggataway Bowl, the Tides and Seahawks displayed a fast and furious brand of lacrosse. Both teams also have plenty of seniors who did not want this to be their last high school game.
The Tides led 8-4 with 7:45 to go in the third period after an Aiden McDaniel goal. But Seahawks seniors Trey De Maine and Maddox Ice both scored to pull within 8-6 after three periods.
Then Peninsula’s Nate Gendreau ran past Tide defenders to score and bring the the score to 8-7.
Gig Harbor pulled away from there. Tides senior defensive specialist Charlie Phillips dished out some physical hits and made an athletic interception before passing to Lane Stanton. Stanton rocketed a one-hopper for a goal before Tides junior Johnny Caplinger scored two in a row to make the score 11-7.
Lane Stanton of Gig Harbor looks to score against Peninsula. Photo by Dennis Browne
Stanton, Caplinger, Nick Gorski and Isiah West were happy with the four-goal lead. They are important Tides midfielders who were tiring because they hardly come off the field.
Peninsula’s Gendreau scored a contested goal, then Ice intercepted an outlet pass and scored again to make the score 11-9 with three minutes to go.
But Tides senior Gorski, a face off specialist, won a critical face-off and wove his way down field before finding Stanton, who fired from 15 yards away to score the game’s final goal and send the Tides to the postseason.
Tides head coach Marc Kemp was relieved after the game.
“This means a lot as Kelly (Bland, Tides assistant coach) and I started the lacrosse program here 17 years ago,” Kemp said. “We decided to start something like the Fish Bowl so we created the Baggataway Bowl and for most years Peninsula has beat us but last year we got it back and it feels great to repeat.”
“Two in a row and going back-to-back is the best feeling in the world,” Stanton said. “Going from a freshman watching the seniors lose games, it’s just a great feeling to take it back and bring it home for the Tides. We’ve worked for it for so long, our goalies had an amazing game and we had the most heart in this game and that’s why we won.”
Gig Harbor seniors, from left, Charlie Phillips, Lane Stanton and Nick Gorski after the win over Peninsula. Photo by Dennis Browne
Seniors carry GH golf to a win
The Gig Harbor (5-1) boys golf team closed out the regular season with an impressive win, scoring a combined total of 193 to dismantle Lakes and previously undefeated Timberline, during a three-team meet at Madrona Links, on May 1.
The Tides’ combined score was 26 shots lower than Timberline’s score of 219, and much lower than Lakes total of 236. Gig Harbor turned to five quality seniors on “Senior Day” to spoil Timberlines upset plans.
Cole Browne led Gig Harbor with a sizzling 1-under-par 35 to finish three strokes lower than any other golfer in the event. Browne eagled the first hole with a tap-in putt. He just missed the elusive albatross (a 2 on a par 5), as his second shot on the first hole rolled to within inches of the cup.
Browne has been coming on as of late after spending the winter on the Tides’ basketball court. He showed a powerful driving game, mixed with a smooth touch around the greens, as he dropped two medium length birdie putts to finish his round under par to win the individual medalist award.
Liam Dalbec and Henry Wilsie both finished with 2-over-par 38s. Davis Dansie and Timmy Quirk each shot respectable 41s. Timberline’s best effort was a 40 from Oliver Vandewark, while Lakes’ best score was a 43 from Mikey Stroud.
From left, Gig Harbor seniors Parker Bare, Davis Dansie, Henry Wilsie, Liam Dalbeck, Cole Browne and Timmy Quirk. Photo courtesy Gig Harbor golf
Top-seeded Gig Harbor golfer Theo Snyder, a junior, sat out the match to allow the seniors to play one last time together on their home course.
Snyder and the team are hungry for a state title after finishing third the last two seasons. First they will compete at the upcoming Puget Sound League Tournament at the Capital City Golf Club in Olympia, during the second week of May.