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Bremerton does 'little things' to beat Cougs


Mar 23 2001

"Central Kitsap did the big things - two-run home runs by Chase Coleman and Jake Higgs.But it was the little things that Bremerton did that helped the Knights to a 6-4 Olympic League victory over the Cougars Tuesday afternoon at sunny Huey Field.That's our season, said Bremerton coach Mike McKnight of a game he hopes could be an advance microcosm of the two months to come. We don't goof up too often, we got pretty solid pitching, and we're pretty experienced. Those things have got to be our strengths.Both teams made just two errors in the crisply played game. But the Knights grabbed the early lead and managed to stay one step ahead of the Cougs the rest of the way.McKnight admitted his team had a little luck on its side, an advantage that CK coach Ryan Rongcal and his staff noticed, too.Our assistant, George (Coutis) said he counted five times we hit the ball right on the button, but right at somebody, said Rongcal. We hit it hard, but it just didn't bounce our way today.Bremerton broke a 2-all tie with an unearned run in the fourth inning, scoring without benefit of a hit as Central committed both its errors. The Knights added three more runs in the fifth, capping their rally with RBI hits from Alex Mansfield and Benji Ehlers.Then they had to withstand CK's assault on the short right field porch at Huey, which the Cougars tried to exploit with four left-handed batters in the order. They went that way for two sixth-inning runs, Scott Lebas singling up the line and scoring ahead of Higgs after he sent Bremerton reliever Joe Bollinger's first offering over the high right-field fence.Bollinger walked the next batter, Mike Kluge, but got CK catcher Kevin Axtman - who came on in the second in place of injured starter Steve Derrig - to ground to second to end the threat.Bollinger struck out the Cougars' last two batters in the seventh to earn the save for starter Andy Cooper. Cooper went the first four innings, giving up three hits - one of them Coleman's laser shot to right center that tied the game at 2 in the second inning.We gave up the dingers, but that's going to happen at this park, McKnight said of the Huey Field setup. We didn't let that bother us. We played pretty solid defensively. We seemed to be in the right places at the right times.The Knights' first two batters scored in the first two innings, Ehlers drawing a walk against CK starter Tim Allen and Alex Marza singling sharply to right. With one out, catcher Paul Gehring singled up the middle to score Ehlers, and shortstop Derek Winderl pushed in Marza with a ground out.The lead didn't last long, though, as Coleman took Cooper deep after leadoff hitter Lebas had reached on an error.CK used four pitchers - Will Pence relieved Allen for one inning, Mark Brown pitched two innings and took the loss and Josh Goffin put the Knights down in order in the seventh.It's early. We're still trying to sort out who can pitch in a game situation, Rongcal said of his young team. Right now, we've got guys who've looked great in practice, but in a game it's different. We need to get some guys out there and see how they do.Derrig, one of the Cougars' few incumbent starters, left the game one batter into Bremerton's second inning when he aggravated a thumb injury suffered in a winter skiing mishap.He's a big part of our defense, Rongcal said. We're keeping our fingers crossed he'll be all right.Based on their performance Tuesday, the Knights should be all right. McKnight, who expected to have a solid pitching corps this season, was especially buoyed by the signs of life shown by his offense. Seven different players hit their way aboard against CK, led by Gehring's 2-for-2 performance.I think if the bats start to come around like they did today, we'll be all right, he said.Coleman was 2 for 3 at the dish for the Cougars. "

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