Defending champ North Kitsap hoping bats come around as softball playoffs approach

If defending Class 2A state softball champion North Kitsap plans on making another lengthy playoff run this spring, Vikings head coach Clay Blackwood said a consistent approach at the plate will be critical.

"If we hit, we're tough," Blackwood said. "We have the pitching and defense."

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, North Kitsap entered the week with a 10-4 overall record and 8-1 mark in the Olympic League. Following Tuesday's home game against Kingston, the Vikings travel to face first-place Port Angeles (13-1, 9-0) on Thursday. The Roughriders snapped North Kitsap's 28-game winning streak with a 7-4 victory in Poulsbo on April 9.

"That's going to be a big one," Blackwood said.

Claiming last year's state crown with a 25-0 record, North Kitsap's offense proved to be a major asset at the state tournament in Selah as the Vikings outscored the opposition 35-2 across four games, including an 8-1 win over Ridgefield in the championship game. Four players hit home runs in the contest.

North Kitsap is averaging roughly four fewer runs per game this spring while facing what is arguably the state's toughest schedule among 2A teams. Entering the week, the Vikings' opponents winning percentage stood at .633 (compared to a .494 opponents winning percentage for Port Angeles).

A difficult schedule might help explain some of North Kitsap's reduced success at the plate, but Blackwood said the Vikings have simply struggled to string together quality at-bats on a regular basis. The pursuit of power has left North Kitsap producing too many strikeouts and pop-ups.

"We've been working hard on trying to stay through the ball, driving through the ball to the middle of the field," Blackwood said.

During last week's 7-3 road win at Kingston, North Kitsap produced five runs before recording its first out. The early 5-0 advantage proved too sizeable of a hole for the Buccaneers to overcome.

"That first inning was more of what I've been hoping for day in, day out," Blackwood said, "where we are able to produce runs, hit the ball hard."

Blackwood will continue to tinker with the Vikings' lineup in an effort to find more offense. With the West Central/Sea-King Bi-District tournament scheduled for May 17-18 at the Regional Athletic Center in Lacey, the Vikings hope the right pieces of the puzzle line up before their title defense begins.

"We're closer and closer every day," Blackwood said. "Let' just make sure we're hot at the right time."

West Sound's softball playoff picture

With North Kitsap and Port Angeles battling it out for first place in the Olympic League, third and fourth place seem settled at this point. Olympic (11-3, 6-3) and Kingston (9-4, 6-4) will be moving on to district tournament play and the Trojans have the advantage for the No. 3 seed since they've beaten the Buccaneers twice. Olympic qualified for state the past two years, winning a pair of games in 2023, while Kingston has never qualified for state.

The bottom half of the Olympic League features Bremerton (5-5, 4-5), North Mason (7-7, 2-7), Sequim (2-10, 1-8) and Bainbridge (4-11, 1-9). There will be at-large district tournament bids up for grabs, so we'll see if Bremerton and North Mason make the cut in two weeks.

In the Nisqually League 1A, Klahowya (10-4, 7-2) likely saw its chance at claiming at least a share of the league title disappear Monday with a 16-9 home loss to Cascade Christian (10-4, 9-0). But the Eagles will be advancing to the West Central District tournament on May 17-18 at the RAC. Head coach Meika Hall's group also knows this: two teams from district tournament play advance to state and Klahowya has been the second-best Nisqually team all season, so there's a good chance the Eagles will have the opportunity to return to state after qualifying in 2022 and missing out last spring.

Five teams from the South Sound Conference 3A advance to the West Central/Southwest Bi-District tournament (May 15-18 at the RAC) and Central Kitsap (5-10, 4-6) currently sits in fifth place with four games remaining. The Cougars entered Tuesday one game ahead of both Peninsula and North Thurston in the win column, so the race for the fifth district playoff spot will go down to the wire.

South Kitsap (11-5, 9-5) began Tuesday in fourth place in the South Puget Sound League 4A, so the Wolves will advance to the West Central/Southwest Bi-District tournament, which begins May 17 at the Kent Service Fields. The tournament is double elimination and head coach Bobby Lawrence's team is motivated to qualify for state for the first time since 2017.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: North Kitsap hoping bats come around as softball playoffs approach