After taking first in their league, Gig Harbor High School’s Varsity Baseball Team entered the playoffs with high hopes. Maybe it was their new pinstripe uniforms or their desire to win for retiring coach Larry Carlson (also known as Coach C), but the team finished the regular season with an impressive eleven and three record in district play. The boys even clenched the top spot in the league after beating out cross-town rival Peninsula High School. As the top varsity pitcher himself and the league’s Most Valuable Player, Owen Wild says the team’s success is largely do to the fact that “the team has really good chemistry this year and [the players] all work really hard.”

As a result of this extra effort, the team has already won three playoff games this postseason and is preparing for two more this weekend. The team needs to win both games in order to advance to the later games in Pasco, the town where the state championship will eventually be played (hopefully a game the Tides will be a part of).

However, this weekend’s games promise to be enough of a challenge considering their first opponent, Bishop Blanchet from Seattle, held a winning record of nine and six in district play. Luckily, with strong pitching from junior Owen Wild and fellow junior Luke Finnigan, as well as successful batting from sophomore Zach Toglia and junior Cade Dessert, the Tides have a great chance to make it all the way to the championship and repeat their victory from 2017.