They are the self-proclaimed no names on the South Puget Sound League diamond.
After Tuesday afternoon’s performance, however, the Kentridge High baseball team very well might have made a name for itself.
Behind a pinpoint pitching performance by ace righthander Ian Buckles and the perfect combination of clutch hitting to go along with spectacular defense, the Chargers turned back Kentlake 7-1 in a loser-out West Central/Southwest 4A Bi-district at Art Wright Field in Kent.
Buckles went the distance on the mound, scattering six hits and walking just two while Axl Snure and Ben Krueger provided the thunder with a home run apiece en route to the win. With the win, the Chargers (14-8) will advance to play Federal Way at 7 p.m. Wednesday night in a winner-to-state game. Federal Way, which took third at state last year, lost to Olympia 8-5.
On Tuesday, the Chargers played as crisp of a game as imaginable, and did so with an intensity level the Falcons could not match.
It’s a recipe for success Kentridge has used all season long.
“At the beginning of the season, people didn’t know who were were. We had to come out with a fire in our belly,” said Snure, who finished the day 2-for-3 with the home run, a double and two runs scored. “I think some people still don’t know who we are, so we have to keep that fire in our belly and play with a chip on our shoulders.”
Kentlake (11-9) certainly knows Kentridge. It’s the third time this season the Chargers have beaten the Falcons, who came into the season among the favorites to win the SPSL North title.
Tuesday’s victory hinged as much on Kentridge’s air-tight defense as it did on the team’s timely hitting and strong pitching. Krueger, whose solo home run to left-center field in the third inning made it 3-0, saved a run in the first inning with a diving snare in center field. In the bottom half of the inning, Kentridge’s Kyle Leady laced a line-drive single to right field to score Sheldon Stober for a 1-0 lead.
Stober helped Kentridge retain the lead during Buckles’ four-pitch second inning, making a pair of tough plays deep in the hole at shortstop.
“He has been the glue to the defense all season,” said Kentridge coach John Flanigan.
Snure made it 2-0 in the bottom of the second with a solo blast to left-center on a high fastball. Krueger followed with his shot in the third, giving the Chargers an early 3-0 advantage.
The lead was more than enough for Buckles, who retired 12 of the first 14 Kentlake batters. Buckles, who will play next year at George Fox University in Oregon, needed just 43 pitches to get through four innings.
“Before you knew it, you look up and we’re through four innings,” Flanigan said.
Buckles proved to be in the zone all afternoon.
“I felt good. I felt like I was right around the plate all day,” he said.
Kentridge’s Dumit Malacon made it 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single. Stober later scored on a wild pitch, making it 5-0. Michael Leverenz and Michael Suguro added RBI singles in the fifth, pushing Kentridge’s lead to 7-0.
Kentlake’s lone highlight came in the top of the seventh, when Brian Hartnett belted a long home run to straightaway center field.
But it was too little, too late for the Falcons.
“We told them before the game just to do the things that have gotten you here,” Flanigan said. “And that’s what they did.”
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