Efficient Hope pitches Lynden baseball to win over Sehome
The National Federation’s new 105-pitch limit for high school players did not bother 6-foot-7 Lynden junior Trevin Hope in his first complete game of the season.
Hope was masterful with 71 strikes and only 28 balls, with no walks, in unbeaten Lynden’s 4-3 Northwest Conference win over Sehome in a match-up of Class 2A state tournament hopefuls Monday at Joe Martin Field.
“I didn’t feel pressure about the pitch count. I had confidence in our defense and I was throwing strikes,” said Hope (3-0), who did not allow a runner in the first four innings and came into the last inning with 82 pitches in the first six innings for the Lions (8-0 overall, 4-0 NWC). He struck out six, including four called third strikes.
All of the game’s seven runs were unearned.
Sehome senior Dylan Harper (2-1) was the victim of four unearned runs in the fifth but pitched well over 5 2/3 innings. Third baseman/relief pitcher Shane Jamison, who came in with only two innings this season for the Mariners (6-4, 2-2), pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings in relief.
THE BIG HITS
Dawson Ohligschlager’s second hit of the game, an infield single, opened the fifth for Lynden. Two outs and one walk later, an error on what should have been the third out allowed Ohligschlager to score and put Jared House on first. No. 3 batter Jordan Holmstrom singled home the second run and cleanup hitter James Marsh followed with a two-run single.
Sehome, which started only three senior hitters, rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fifth after Alex Pitton was safe on an error. Singles by Dane Faris and Michael Mindnich loaded the bases and sophomore James Meador, the No. 9 hitter in his first start, followed with a two-run single to center. Harper singled home the third run before Hope retired the last man.
Neither team had a hit in the final two innings.
NEW PITCH COUNT
Coaches Cory White of Lynden and Monte Walton of Sehome, both longtime baseball men, agreed that 120 pitches might be a more realistic limit.
“We never had anyone throw more than 112 last year,” White said. “The intentions are good, but it takes a little bit of control away from the coaches.”
Hope felt the same way.
“I would rather see the 105 as a guide rather than a (strict) limit,” he said.
That’s how Walton sees it, too.
“The problem is that a kid can be in the middle of the count on a hitter and have to come off the mound if he reaches 105,” Walton said. “That’s why I took Dylan out. He had 103 pitches and I didn’t want anyone to have to come in during the middle of a count. Even in the Little League World Series, they let a kid finish pitching to a hitter if he reaches the limit.”
HOPE’S NEW ANGLE
“My pitching angle had to be dropped, so I made that adjustment,” said Hope. “That gave me a little more torque, a little more velocity.”
Considering the caliber of pitcher his team faced, Walton thought his players competed well.
“I’m happy with the way our young team battled,” Walton said. “I thought our two kids pitched real well.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2017 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Efficient Hope pitches Lynden baseball to win over Sehome."