RIDGEFIELD — The Ridgefield baseball team may lack some star power, but collectively the Spudders are showing themselves to be a pretty solid team from top to bottom.
The bottom of the order got things going on Monday and a pitcher who had never thrown more than four innings in a game tossed a complete game, lifting the Spudders to a 6-2 win over Mark Morris in a key 2A Greater St. Helens League game.
Parker Daniels limited the Monarchs to two hits in a complete-game gem.
“I was just commanding the strike zone right there,” Daniels said. “And the defense was pretty good. They had my back. “
With Daniels and Mark Morris’ Stephen Hammergren trading out for out in the early innings, the Spudders got an unlikely spark when Nick Nakashima was originally asked to bunt a runner over in the bottom of the third.
But after a couple of unsuccessful attempts, he ended up lining a double to right that set up Dillon Kirksey’s two-run single.
“I thought it was going out off the bat,” Ridgefield coach Nick Allen said of Nakashima’s hit. “I was thinking about bunting him with two strikes. Then I thought ‘no, he’s not a great bunter, so I’m going to let him swing.’ And then he comes up with a big hit.”
Mark Morris tied the game in the top of the fourth on a two-run home run by Dossen Morrow.
But the Spudders responded with a four-run fifth that was again started by the bottom of the order.
Deven Sevella started the rally with an infield single, then Max Daniels drew a walk.
Nakashima was again asked to bunt the runners over. But this time, he got down a bunt so good it went for an infield single that loaded the bases.
Kirksey’s walk put Ridgefield up 3-2. Then the Spudders got RBI singles from Brody Masterson, Liam Ostrom and Parker Daniels.
“That’s pretty much our approach — a bunch of guys taking quality at-bats,” Kirksey said. “And if we can string enough of those together, the results are usually pretty good.”
From there, the game was Parker Daniels’ to finish, much to his coaches surprise.
“He’s been with us for three years and I don’t think he’s ever thrown more than four inning before,” Allen said. “I would have liked to have him come out. But he’s like ‘Coach, I’m throwing the seventh.’ And I’m like ‘All right dude. You’re at 71 pitches. So if you want the seventh, it’s yours.’ I’m just really proud of him.”
Now a team that was 7-5 on April 14 has now run off seven consecutive wins. The Spudders (12-2) hold a one-game lead in the 2A GSHL over Hudson’s Bay (11-3) and Columbia River (12-4) with two regular-season games left.
When asked what’s been the secret are the hot streak, Kirksey said it came down to one word.
“I’ll definitely say trust,” he said. “A lot of guys that are finding trust in themselves. When we trust the work that we’re putting in every day, good results happen.”
