Wolves plentiful on first team

Although the rain refuses to cooperate, it’s playoff time for West Sound area baseball and fastpitch teams.

That also means it’s time for the sports editors and writers of the Kitsap News Group to pick the All-Kitsap County Baseball and Fastpitch teams for boys and girls competing for schools in Kitsap County.

Staff members from the Port Orchard Independent, Central Kitsap Reporter, Bremerton Patriot and North Kitsap Herald joined forces to honor those players whose hard work and sacrifice sometimes go un-noticed.

The players were broken down into one first team and a list of honorable mentions. The first team was chosen with one player at each fielding position (expect at catcher for the boys, where we just couldn’t decide on one player and opted for two), a designated hitter and a utility player along with five pitchers and a coach of the year.

All-Kitsap County teams chosen by the respective papers will be a continuing process. The fall sports season will see all-county teams in football and volleyball as well as a basketball team in the winter.

Here now is the All-Kitsap County All-Baseball.

-- Jeff Shaw, Olympic — As a member of the Trojans’ deep starting rotation and as a first baseman, he had a .356 average with a team-best 15 RBI during the regular season.

-- Shea Baumgartner, Olympic — In a 14-10 win against Central Kitsap on April 21, Baumgartner went 5-for-5 with three runs, two home runs and 8 RBI. “That’s one of the best individual performances I’ve seen on any level,” Olympic coach Nate Andrews said following the game.

-- Travis Tobin, North Kitsap — With a .438 average, the Viking junior has crossed the plate for 28 runs on the season. .

-- Pat Kelly, South Kitsap — The defensive leader of the Wolves, Kelly missed four games in the middle of the season with a sprained ankle. Still, he managed a .468 average with 13 extra-base hits and 16 runs batted in. He always finds a way on base, has been on 35 times in 59 chances for a .593 on-base-percentage and scored 19 times. A three-sport star, he also played defensive back for the Wolves and placed fifth at the state

wrestling tournament in his weight class.

-- Shawn Squires, Klahowya — Squires had a .392 average and also is one of the Eagles’ top starting pitchers.

-- Chris Anderson, South Kitsap — The vocal leader for South, he also lets his bat do a lot of talking. The senior leftfielder is batting .500 entering the postseason with two home runs and 21 RBI. He leads South with a .596 OBP. He did not commit an error all year. He was the team’s designated hitter for a stretch when trying to recover from an ankle injury.

-- Chester Thomas, Olympic — Thomas’ true value has come from saving extra-base hits and home runs with acrobatic catches and setting up the Trojans’ deep offense as the leadoff hitter.

-- Matt Phillips, Central Kitsap — The versatile Phillips served as the Cougars’ No. 1 starter and posted a 3.45 ERA. while leading the Narrows League Bridge Division with eight home runs.

-- Aaron Cunningham, South Kitsap — Mr. Everything for South. He can and will play any position but most of the season shifting between second and right field. Cunningham, one of four returning starters from South’s Class 4A title team last year, is hitting .414 with nine extra-base hits and 10 RBI.

-- Brent Nickerson, South Kitsap — The most pleasant surprise for first-year coach Jim Fairweather, Nickerson has put up some monster numbers for a guy that didn’t even play baseball last year. The senior is hitting .481 with two home runs, knocked in 19 runs while drawing six walks and laying down four sacrifices. He committed just one error all year.

-- Marcus Curtis, North Kitsap — Curtis has caught for fellow NK All-Kitsap representatives Peck and Prince all season, allowing only nine base runners to steal while on his watch.

-- Jared Prince, North Kitsap — On the mound, he’s gone 8-1 on the season and has a 0.85 ERA with a powerful fastball that teams are often late — for entire games — to hit. At the plate he’s batting a league leading .549, with 26 RBIs and 18 runs scored.

-- Dan Peck, North Kitsap — He’s a combined 4-0 on the season and has held teams to a little over one run per game when pitching. At the plate, he’s batting .413 with 12 RBIs and 25 runs.

-- Matt Hudson, South Kitsap — He was there to pick up some slack for the Wolves pitching staff and became a go-to-guy as the season moved along. He went 6-1 with a 2.82 ERA while striking out 30 batters in 40 innings. Just a junior, Hudson moves the ball around and changes speeds well.

-- Nick Bankus, Olympic — Bankus finished with a team-best four wins and 33 strikeouts, while posting a 1.18 ERA.

-- Bryce Wentworth, Central Kitsap — Wentworth finished with a 2-2 record and had a 2.19 ERA along with 30 strikeouts in 38 innings.

-- Steve Frease, North Kitsap — Frease, in his 11 years as the Vikes’ skipper, is quick to pass off coaching honors to the other coaches. “We’ve got very good coaches here,” Frease said. “And we all give a part to the game.”

Honorable Mentions

-- Jeff Camus, North Kitsap — The Vikings’ center fielder has a .360 average this year, bringing in 19 RBIs and scoring 16 runs

-- Craig Senter, South Kitsap — Began the year as a role player but worked his way into the starting lineup in centerfield by mid-season. The senior is hitting .295 with 10 runs driven in with seven walks and two sacrifices. A very unselfish player, will do whatever it takes to help his team win.

-- Josh Fullington, South Kitsap — He didn’t have the senior season he was expecting but seems to have regained his form from last year as of late. Fullington is 4-2 with a save this year, carries an ERA of 4.60 and has struckout 31 batters. He has committed to WSU.

-- Dustin Carlson, Klahowya — A utility player, he paced the Eagles with a .395 average.

-- Robert Cook, Olympic — Cook finished the regular season with a .413 average.

-- Reid Kessler, Olympic — He finished with a 2-1 record and 2.83 ERA in 22 1/3 innings.

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