‘It’s something extra special.’ At Cheney Stadium, Peninsula baseball rallies for a win

For high school baseball players, there’s nothing quite like playing a game in a big-league park.

Or in the case of the Peninsula High School baseball team, playing in Cheney Stadium, home of the Tacoma Rainiers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.

The Seahawks got to experience that on April 17. The capper was a 7-5, come-from-behind victory over Stadium.

“The whole purpose behind it is the experience,” said Peninsula coach Michael Johnson. “Obviously, we want to compete, but to play in a big-league park with your buddies is special.”

Johnson said it was a special outing for the Seahawks.

“Every special season has that moment where things really start to click,” Johnson said. “We just had a collective sense that there can be something special brewing here. The energy in the stadium was great, we had great support, the students were out. The boys enjoyed it and it felt like a sparking moment.”

Down 4-1 heading into the fifth inning, Peninsula knew a comeback was imminent.

“There’s a belief this year,” Johnson said. “There’s no real letdown when we fall behind. They’ve managed to get themselves out of holes. A lot of that stems from the trust we have on our guys on the hill. We have the ability to stop the bleeding. They’re just swinging confident bats right now.”

Peninsula’s fifth-inning comeback started with a Peter King triple, driving in two and cutting the deficit to one run. Trent Buchanan followed that up with a double, scoring King, before Jayden Bunch’s RBI single gave Peninsula a 5-4 lead.

Stadium came back to tie the game at 5-5 in the top of the sixth, but in the bottom of the frame, Peninsula answered with a Mason Palagyi RBI-double and a Buchanan RBI single to make it 7-5.

Buchanan, who has emerged as the team’s No. 1 pitcher this season, went 3-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs in the win.

“He’s really working hard, on the mound, obviously,” Johnson said of Buchanan. “Offensively, as well. He’s in the cage working on different approaches. He’s got a better understanding of the strike zone and he’s working gap to gap. He’s gotten away from trying to pull everything. He’s using a lot of the field.”

Griffin Bakken threw 4.1 innings in the start, giving up seven hits, four runs (three earned), striking out four and walking two batters. In relief, Aidan Bunn threw 1.2 innings of scoreless ball and Colby Small earned the save, throwing the final inning and striking out two. Johnson said all of his pitchers played well, highlighted by Small in the closing role.

“That kid has just been nails in the closing role this year,” Johnson said. “It’s his first year as a varsity baseball player. For him to step into that role and be that successful has been awesome.”

Johnson said he hopes the win will give the Seahawks momentum heading into the postseason.

“There was just a different energy in that one,” Johnson said. “The boys were together, like we’ve talked about all season. Every out was exciting. Every base hit was compounded on. They were feeding off each other. There was never a doubt that we weren’t going to wind up on top. The belief in themselves came alive through that experience of playing at Cheney.”

Maybe it was the magic of playing under the bright lights.

“It’s something extra special,” Johnson said. “Just the overall experience of being on that field. A lot of these kids are hoping to get paid to play out there someday. So they got a taste of it.”

Peninsula hits the road to face Capital at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 26 and will finish league play at home against Capital at 4 p.m. on Monday, April 29 at Sehmel Homestead Park.