TACOMA — Timberline was so close to entering the bottom of the fifth inning in a scoreless battle with Fife, just an offensive burst away from potentially beating a 2A powerhouse at Cheney Stadium Friday afternoon.
Carter Glaser pitched four solid innings, and the Blazers’ defense was playing lights out. Zane Fraser was crafting a highlight reel at shortstop, and center fielder Reid Ovist made a diving catch in a bases-loaded situation to save at least two runs in the third inning.
But with two outs in the fifth inning, it all fell apart.
Smith walked a batter for the second time in the frame, putting two runners on with two outs in a scoreless game. Fife finally got on the scoreboard on an RBI single by Rocco Gonzales to the gap in left field. On a grounder to third baseman Will Tennent, the throw to first base that would have ended the inning sailed, allowing the second run to score.
The error bug caught Fraser as well, as a grounder snuck under his glove, and a third run came home. Then, a weak grounder to Tennent at third base was fielded cleanly, but his throw was mishandled at first base by Ryan Wolfe for the fourth run.
Timberline could not string together hits for a potential comeback attempt, and Fife prevailed 6-0.
“It was tough. We gave up a couple of walks there. Walks lead to our defense being on their heels at times,” Timberline head coach Doug LaPalm said. “If we can limit the walks, maybe we have a better chance at making those plays. It’s just a focus thing. It’s attention to detail and not just going through the motions. You have to take every ground ball and fly ball rep and do it 100%.”
The fifth inning was a blemish on what was otherwise an impressive day for the Timberline fielders, including Glaser on the mound, who worked out of multiple dilemmas. After a clean first inning, he stranded two runners in the third and survived three walks in the fourth to keep the game scoreless.
Glaser pitched four shutout frames, allowing just two hits and four walks while striking out two batters. He threw 74 pitches, which was enough for the Blazers coaching staff to turn to the bullpen in the fifth.
“Carter’s struggled a little bit at times. For him, we wanted to end him on a high note and some positivity. When we go down the playoff stretch, we’re going to need everybody, and he’s going to be a big part of that,” LaPalm said of Glaser. “We wanted to make sure we limited his pitch count because he hasn’t thrown a ton lately.”
Timberline put a runner on base in each of the first and second innings but immediately grounded into a double play each time.
Fife tallied two more runs in the seventh, and the Trojans’ bullpen retired the final six Blazers to close out the shutout victory. Timberline’s two hits came from Caleb Bacon in the second inning and Derek Sanchez in the third inning, and the Blazers struck out eight times.
“In a non-league game like this, we try to focus on ourselves and what we can do. Early on, I thought we did good. We had a couple of baserunning mistakes that allowed us not to scrape a couple runs around,” LaPalm said. “Two hits is not gonna win you a ball game, and our three errors defensively didn’t help.”
With two weeks left in the regular season, Timberline’s biggest strength remains its starting pitching rotation of Glaser, Adrian Williams and Wolfe. But its biggest question marks are its bullpen and its consistency offensively. Friday’s game marked a low point in both categories, as the Blazers were shut out for the first time this season.
“Adrian and Ryan do a great job of throwing strikes. Trying to find that guy that can be consistent in relief is going to be huge for us,” LaPalm said. “Offensively, we need to have unselfish at bats and not do too much with our at bats. When we do that, we’ll be just fine.”
Timberline (7-8, 7-6 Puget Sound League) gets another non-league test Monday when it travels to Curtis. League action resumes Tuesday at Silas (11-3, 10-2 PSL).
