Baseball wraps up strong season

By Ian Ferguson

The Blaine baseball team may have ended the season on a losing streak, but when taken as a whole it was the strongest season of Borderite baseball in years.

After losing their last five games of the season, the Borderites ended up with a season record of 5–7 in the Northwest Conference (NWC) and 8–12 overall. They won more conference games than in their previous three seasons combined (one in 2014, none in 2013 and two in 2012).

Although they fell short of their goal of making it to the postseason, head coach Larry Hoffman said he was proud of the team’s work ethic.

“A lot of our success this year was the hard work they put in playing in the off-season and working to improve throughout the season. I think the program is going to see a lot of success in the next two to five years. Unfortunately, the seniors who have led this team with all their hard work won’t be able to reap the benefit,” Hoffman said.

It became clear the Borderites wouldn’t make the cut for the postseason after they lost to Sehome 4–1 in an away game April 30.

“I thought our kids played really hard that game,” Hoffman said. “Their pitcher was good, and we struggled at bat and a little on defense with fielders not used to playing on turf.”

John Starcer pitched against Sehome and hit 2 for 4 with a double. Rudy Nolasco hit 1 for 3 with a double and an RBI, and Jalen Kortlever went 1 for 3.

Starcer, a junior, shared pitching duties this season with senior Cody Gobbato and sophomore Anthony Ball. Nolasco, Kortlever and Josh Fakkema also saw time on the mound.

“Our pitching all year has been flat-out great,” Hoffman said.

The Borderites lost a home game against Meridian 2–0 May 4, and ended their season with an 8–1 loss to Ferndale at home May 6.