Week 6: Top high school baseball performances in the South Sound
When Gig Harbor head coach Ben Sleeter took over the Tides program last spring, his son, Daniel, played for the crosstown-rival Peninsula Seahawks. What a difference 12 months can make.
Soon enough, Daniel transferred to Gig Harbor, forced to miss the regular season’s first eight games in compliance with WIAA transfer guidelines. The sophomore waited his turn but wasted no time finding his groove, silencing the Mount Tahoma T-Birds with a dozen strikeouts in a 15-0 win on April 15.
How about a no-hitter in his first start of the season?
“I don’t like playing against him,” Ben Sleeter chuckled. “Pretty good arm.”
Daniel touched 88 miles per hour with his fastball, mixing sinkers, cutters, and sliders en route to a career day. It’s his first varsity no-hitter at the high school level — and in his first start under his father’s direction, to boot.
The right-hander finished with five shutout frames, walking two with 12 strikeouts. He went 1-for-2 at the plate, adding a single, two walks, and two RBI.
He’s the latest addition to a top-tier pitching staff in the South Sound, which returned standouts Jake Cuda and Quentin Bockhorn and also boasts Logan Pedersen and Nathan Cheek.
“We’ve got as good or as deep of a pitching staff as any high school in the state,” Ben Sleeter said. “Our pitching is absolutely unbelievable.”
SUMNER TOSSES COMBINED NO-NO
Wyatt Plyler set the table and Austin Gailushas slammed the door.
The Sumner duo combined for a no-hitter in Wednesday’s 9-0 win over Rogers, extending the Spartans’ win streak to a season-high five games.
Plyler, a junior right-hander, struck out the first five Rams in order and cruised through four frames. His final line: Four innings, no hits, no runs, two walks, and 11 strikeouts.
Gailushas earned a three-inning save, walking four and striking out three. Plyler added an RBI single in the sixth, going 1-for-2 with two walks.
Puyallup has claimed 18 straight 4A SPSL titles, but the league is wide open this spring with Sumner (9-2), Olympia (9-2), and Emerald Ridge (9-2) atop the standings and Graham-Kapowsin (8-2) close behind.
MOORE BROTHERS SHINE AT KENTLAKE
A two-game sweep of Federal Way featured the Moore brothers at their best.
Kentlake senior Christopher Moore, a UW commit, belted a grand slam and went 3-for-3 in Monday’s 10-0 win over the Eagles. The following afternoon, sophomore Lincoln Moore (soph.) went 4-for-4 with four doubles.
Staples in the Kentlake lineup, the sibling duo is batting a combined .514 (37-for-72), pacing the Falcons in RBI and doubles.
Christopher Moore has yet to strike out in 45 total plate appearances, one of the South Sound’s all-around premier players. The senior right-hander is 1-1 with a 0.35 ERA across 20 innings pitched this spring, walking 15 with 39 strikeouts.
