Wildcat bats can't find holes at E-W

"Oak Harbor's Wildcats rode a 10-hit attack to crush Mariner 9-2 Tuesday.It is, however, a game of inches. Two nights later, Edmonds-Woodway escaped with a 7-4 win at Edmonds, partly because Oak Harbor's hard-hitting lineup pasted the ball to all the wrong places.We just couldn't hit it between 'em,'' coach Jim Waller said. We hit at'em balls.''A typical play on the night: With two outs, the bases loaded and trailing 6-4 in the top of the fourth, Jay Hartman smashed a blast to center that did everything but clear the left centerfield wall, Waller said. Instead it settled into an Edmonds-Woodway mitt to end the inning, and Oak Harbor's hopes.At Mariner, Tyson Van Dam pitched a no-hitter through four innings, and Ryan Elvebak mopped up the last two innings in the 9-2 drubbing of Mariner. Garrett Stone led the attack at the plate, going 2 for 2 with a double. He stole three bases and scored 3 runs.Oak Harbor was 1-3 heading into Friday's late game with Shorewood, but the Wildcats are better than their record would indicate, Waller said. With nearly a full squad back from last year and strength at the plate, I think we'll be fine,'' he said. Oak Harbor 9, Mariner 2Oak Harbor 131 300 1 - 9R 10H 1EMariner 000 020 0- 2R 2H 4EEd-Wdway 7, Oak Harbor 4Oak Harbor 002 200 0 - 4R 5H 2EEd-Wdway 222 010 - 7R 7H 1EErrors, walks costWolves runs at FHBy DAVID FISHEREditorSome things in life are free.Coupeville gave away 11 baserunners Tuesday with eight walks and three hit batsmen, handing Friday Harbor a big lead and an 8-1 win.The game was called for darkness after six innings.Starting pitcher Mike James got in trouble early on a chilly spring night, walking the bases loaded with no outs, coach Willie Smith said. A passed ball and a sacrifice fly brought in two.James was able to shut the door on that inning, but a single, two walks and three costly infield errors let Friday Harbor erupt with a four-run fourth before James was able to settle down and get the game back under control.In our first two games, defense was a strong point,'' Smith said. But the last two games, I don't know what the deal was. We just weren't getting ready to go.''The Wolves were 1-4 on the season and 1-2 in league play heading into Friday afternoon's non-league home game with Sultan. The infield practiced basics in its drills this week, and Smith said he planned to experiment with his lineup Friday before the team heads into a string of league games.I'm still tinkering,'' Smith said. ...I want us to play well, but I also want to see what kind of combinations we can put out there.''Cville 100 000-1R 3H 3EFH 240 011-8R 4H 0E"

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