The Tornados remain winless in South Sound Conference action following the team’s latest series against North Thurston High School, where they dropped their first contest, 8-6, on Tuesday, April 18 and 5-3 on Wednesday, April 19.
Though the team was swept, they narrowed the margin of defeat and played competitive baseball during both games.
“We are closing the gap and learning how to compete,” Yelm Head Coach Zach Miller said. “We have to continue to find a way on the mound to be vulnerable and challenge hitters in the zone. Lincoln Ramirez has done that well lately. (He) kept us in ball games to give us a chance at the plate.”
Ramirez has primarily played second base for the Tornados, but has recently made strides pitching in relief.
In their first contest of the week, the Tornados hosted the Rams.
It was a windy and rainy game early on, but both teams found their offensive groove when North Thurston defeated Yelm 8-6.
Scoring was tougher to come by in their second matchup of the week, but North Thurston held on to defeat the Tornados 5-3, sweeping the series.
“We've had opportunities offensively and just weren't able in some tight league games to get the big hit and put us up by a few and take pressure off of our pitchers,” Miller said. “I like the direction we are headed. The goal for the end of the year is five wins at this point. If we can improve off of four (wins) last year, it's a baby step. We will have learned from early mistakes to win a couple games here at the end of the season.”
Miller said he would like his players to continually compete with every pitch. He said the team will understand how to win once they’re able to put together seven full innings.
“We are seeing some young guys grow up now in the second half of our season,” Miller said. “They need to take another step before heading to summer ball and we will be in a good spot.”
The Tornados next series is against conference foe Central Kitsap.
They were scheduled to host the Cougars on Tuesday, April 25 before they traveled to Central Kitsap on Wednesday, April 26 for the series finale.
